MANILA, Philippines — House prosecutor and Bicol Saro Party-list Rep. Terry Ridon on Monday challenged Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong to identify members of the House prosecution panel whom he alleged were involved in budget insertions.
“Our challenge to Mayor Magalong: name the House prosecutors you are referring to who supposedly have budget insertions,” Ridon said in Filipino.
“As always, Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong is fabricating stories about House impeachment prosecutors—specifically alleging that some of those prosecuting Vice President Sara Duterte have budget insertions. This is not true, and as always, it is another lie from Mayor Magalong,” he added.
Ridon said that the mayor's allegation was impossible because the 2026 General Appropriations Act had already been enacted without congressional insertions, while Congress has yet to begin deliberations on the proposed 2027 national budget.
“To date, the Executive has not yet submitted a National Expenditure Program (NEP) to Congress for the 2027 national budget deliberations. The Executive holds absolute authority over the content of the 2027 NEP before it is transmitted to Congress and the Senate,” he said.
“As of now, there have been no congressional deliberations for the 2027 national budget; the House Committee on Appropriations has not yet called for hearings regarding the budget of any government office. So the question arises: how could House prosecutors have insertions, and how could they have ‘pork barrel’ funds?” he added.
Ridon brought up Magalong's previous allegation linking 67 lawmakers to questionable flood control projects.
“This might be a repeat of the time during the height of the flood control investigations, when he accused 67 congressmen of complicity in corruption but never once named them,” he said.
“We will not be distracted by allegations like this—which clearly serve the interests of the accused Vice President by attempting to undermine the prosecution's credibility—just as the trial approaches to expose the truth about the misuse of public funds and the Vice President’s unexplained wealth,” he added.
