Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson has raised fresh concerns about transparency in government spending, revealing that almost all his colleagues during the 19th Congress allegedly secured insertions of nearly ₱100 million each in the General Appropriations Act (GAA).
Lacson, who has long been known for scrutinizing the national budget, said the scale of the insertions calls into question whether the practice has effectively revived the controversial pork barrel system under a different name.“Almost every senator in the 19th Congress had ₱100 million inserted into the budget. The real issue is where exactly these funds went, and whether they were used for the public good,” Lacson stated.

Budget watchdog groups were quick to support Lacson’s claims, warning that such allocations could be misused for political patronage rather than addressing urgent national priorities. “The budget should be crafted for the people’s needs, not as a political tool,” one advocacy group stressed.
The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) clarified that congressional amendments are part of the legislative process, provided they are itemized in the final GAA. However, critics argue that the details of these insertions often remain vague and inaccessible to the public.
Several incumbent senators defended their allocations, saying they were intended for legitimate infrastructure projects, health services, and educational programs in underserved areas. “These are not pork barrel funds. These are necessary projects aligned with the development needs of our constituents,” one senator said.

Lacson, however, maintained that transparency is the key issue. Without full disclosure of the insertions, he warned, public distrust in government will continue to deepen. “If no clear accounting is made, then history risks repeating itself,” he added, alluding to past corruption scandals linked to discretionary funds.

Calls are now mounting for Congress to release a detailed breakdown of all budget insertions, including which lawmakers pushed for them and where the money is allocated. For many observers, this controversy is a crucial test of whether the government is serious about fiscal discipline and clean governance—or whether pork barrel politics remains embedded in the country’s budgeting system.