Bersamin dared: Name 'corrupt' House solons

House committee on infrastructure chairperson Terry Ridon on Sunday dared Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin to name the members of the House of Representatives he accused of “corruption,” pushing back against what appears to be blame-shifting between the Palace and Congress over budget duplication in flood control projects.

“Perhaps, Executive Secretary Bersamin should disclose the names of the congressmen he was referring to as corrupt. I think he has to be able to say that to our faces,” Ridon said, partly Filipino, in an interview. “The question for him tomorrow, I think, would be: what is their corruption and who are these corrupt congressmen?”

Bersamin is set to face House members on Monday to defend the P27.28-billion proposed budget of the Office of the President for 2026, of which P10.77 billion will go to confidential (P4.368B) and intelligence (P6.398B) funds.

Ridon’s remarks came after Bersamin on Saturday castigated the House, led by Speaker Martin Romualdez — President Marcos Jr.’s cousin — for “attempting to shift the blame for their own corruption and failures onto the Executive Branch” by pushing to revert the proposed 2026 national budget.

The executive secretary is the alter ego of the president and is often referred to as the “little president,” as he is legally mandated to carry out functions assigned by law to the executive branch.

‘Blame game’

Bersamin’s statement followed “recent spins coming from certain members of the House” who accused some executive agencies, particularly the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), of failing to vet millions in allocations under the 2026 National Expenditure Program (NEP) for flood control projects already finished.

Senior House members, led by Deputy Speaker Ronaldo Puno, recently suggested returning the NEP to the DBM, calling it “poorly constructed” and “trash” after finding “red flags,” specifically redundant flood control items under the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

Puno said the NEP contained uniform amounts for several projects worth P73 million to P93 million, all outlined on a single page. He was not convinced the DBM had noticed such red flags before submitting the NEP to Congress, suggesting the agency may be in cahoots with the DPWH.

The plan to return the NEP did not push through after Romualdez thumbed down the proposal.

‘NEP-initiated’

Earlier, Ridon claimed that funding for several botched and “ghost” or non-existent flood control projects recently inspected by Marcos emanated from the NEP and were not “inserted” by Congress.

These include the ghost P55-million reinforced concrete river wall project in Baliwag, Bulacan; the deteriorating P380-million dike in San Teodoro, Oriental Mindoro; the P260-million rock shed in Tuba, Benguet; and the substandard P96.4-million river protection structure and P77.19-million flood mitigation project in Calumpit, Bulacan.

Ridon on Sunday disputed Bersamin’s criticism, insisting the ghost projects were part of the “executive proposal” in the 2025 NEP submitted to Congress last year and not congressional insertions.

The NEP is the president’s proposed budget submitted by the DBM to Congress. It serves as the basis for the budget bill, which becomes the General Appropriations Act (GAA) when signed into law by the chief executive.

“First off, no one is blaming the Palace, the President of the Philippines, for anything regarding flood control projects. That’s the first thing that needs to be clarified,” Ridon asserted.

“It came directly from the DPWH [budget]. So, it's not our fault that those were the result of Congress' further study of the areas visited by the President,” he added.

‘Congressional insertion’

Ridon argued it would be difficult for Bersamin to dismiss the House’s concerns over the 2026 budget as deflection, given the admission that the P96-million “ghost” flood control project in Plaridel, Bulacan — which DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon inspected on Thursday — was a congressional insertion. The project was not in the NEP or 2024 General Appropriations Bill but appeared in the GAA, he said.

The lawmaker insisted their concerns are “legitimate,” citing colleagues who raised similar issues about the 2026 budget.

"I don't think Executive Secretary Bersamin can actually say that there is an actual deflection...The concerns of the congressmen about the NEP, I think that's something really serious also,” he stressed.

Ridon said the trading of barbs between the House and the Palace is unproductive and a real “deflection” from flood control issues. Lawmakers have also questioned alleged “insertions” in other agencies, including an P8-billion allocation for firearms under the Department of the Interior and Local Government, flagged as an “attempted insertion” due to the alleged lack of approval from then-PNP chief Nicolas Torre III.

It was speculated that Torre’s alleged defiance contributed to his removal. Another alleged “misallocation” is a P1-billion Department of Health fund reportedly intended for hospitals and rural health units but earmarked for office beautification.