Senator Migz Zubiri quickly debunked allegations that the Senate, under his watch, had a whopping P24 billion in “leadership” funds divided among senators, as alleged by detained former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) secretary Manuel Bonoan on Wednesday.

Zubiri was the Senate President of the 19th Congress but resigned on 20 May 2024 after less than two years in office and was replaced by Senator Chiz Escudero.

During his stint, he contended that he “never requested, held, or handled” any requests for infrastructure projects from his colleagues, claiming that any amendments were coursed through the Senate Committee on Finance, which has the sole jurisdiction over the budgetary process.

“I refused to handle any such list. No proposed budget amendments passed through my office. The senators know that,” Zubiri stressed.

His statement stood in stark contrast to Bonoan’s testimony before the Sandiganbayan during the trial on former senator Bong Revilla Jr.’s malversation case.

Bonoan alleged that the Senate received around P24 billion in so-called leadership funds from DPWH in exchange for introducing new line items or insertions into its proposed 2024 budget after incurring a deep cut in the 2023 national budget.

Initially, the government proposed a P717.31 billion budget for the DPWH in 2023, about 9% lower than its 2022 budget.

However, the department’s budget rose to P893.12 billion under the 2023 General Appropriations Act, which Congress passed and President Marcos Jr. signed into law.

Of the amount, P182.99 million was intended for flood control projects.

In 2024, the DPWH’s budget further bloated to P996.8 billion under the GAA, despite having an initial proposed budget of P822.2 billion in the National Expenditure Program.

Of the P996.8 billion, P244.58 billion was allocated to flood mitigation projects.

According to Bonoan, the P24 billion leadership fund was divided among senators, with each allegedly receiving at least P500 million, while chairpersons of major committees could receive as much as P1 billion each, at Zubiri’s discretion.

The former Cabinet member claimed that the scheme has been in effect since 2024.

While Zubiri remained firm in his denial that he had any hand in the supposed leadership fund under his watch, he defended the position that amendments or insertions to the national budget are a legitimate exercise vested in lawmakers as members of Congress, who hold the power of the purse.

“There is nothing wrong with institutional amendments, for as long as projects are properly implemented, that they are neither ghost projects nor substandard projects, and that they are devoid of any influence from the proponent legislators that could lead to corruption,” he pointed out.

Furthermore, he said almost all members of Congress, even former Senate president Franklin Drilon, “whose integrity is beyond reproach, helped transform Iloilo City into an internationally renowned mega-city through timely institutional amendments in the budget.”

“That is part of our responsibility as legislators: to help bring much-needed development to communities that have long been left behind,” Zubiri concluded.

“Budget insertions” have become a notorious means of funneling public funds to favored legislative districts of lawmakers and have subsequently been associated with substandard, overpriced, or “ghost” or non-existent projects.

Earlier, Senator Ping Lacson claimed that the DPWH’s budget was “significantly bloated” from 2023 to 2025, which he attributed to “congressional insertions.”

Lacson alleged that almost all senators of the previous Congress had individual budget insertions totaling at least P100 billion in the 2025 GAA.