Estrada, Villanueva not cleared in budget insertion issue — Lacson

Despite their participation in a Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing, Senators Jinggoy Estrada and Joel Villanueva remain entangled in allegations over questionable budget insertions totaling nearly P1 billion in the 2023 and 2025 General Appropriations Acts (GAAs).

Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” Lacson clarified that both senators are “by no means cleared” of accusations related to infrastructure allocations in Bulacan, wherein P600 million allegedly linked to Villanueva and P355 million to Estrada.

“By any measure, Senators Villanueva and Estrada have not been cleared, at least on the issue of budget insertions involving infrastructure projects in Bulacan worth P600M and P355M respectively, as alleged by Engr Brice Hernandez,” Lacson said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

Hernandez had earlier claimed that large amounts of funds were allocated to the national budget for flood control and infrastructure projects in Bulacan, which he linked to Villanueva. 

Villanueva had then denied the allegation.

He pointed out that the P600 million mentioned by Hernandez was indeed reflected in documents from the 2023 GAA under the Unprogrammed Fund, with eight separate entries of P75 million each. 

These were presented through slides provided by Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian.

“There are seven to eight items worth P75 million each, exactly P600 million,” Lacson said, but told Hernandez he had a “selective memory” as he could not answer Lacson's other questions.

Lacson criticized Hernandez’s testimony, accusing him of having “selective memory” when he failed to respond to some of the senator's queries.

“I'm telling you, hindi pwedeng selective dito. Pag nangako kang magsasabi ng totoo sabihin mo di lang kung convenient (I'm telling you, you cannot be selective here. If you promise to tell the truth, it must be the whole truth, not what's convenient for you),” Lacson told Hernandez during the hearing.

In contrast to the Villanueva-linked projects in the 2023 budget, Lacson said his office verified that the P355 million in projects linked to Estrada appeared in the regular budget of the 2025 GAA.

Estrada, like Villanueva, has denied involvement in the alleged insertions.

While Lacson allowed the two senators to attend and confront their accuser during the hearing, he emphasized that this did not equate to exoneration.

“It is a person’s basic right to confront his accuser. In case you didn’t notice, I did not clear the two senators on the issue of budget insertions because the budget books validate Brice Hernandez’s allegations based on my own staff’s research, at least in the case of Sen Estrada,” Lacson said. 

He added that he consulted legal staff before allowing Villanueva and Estrada to take part in the proceedings, reinforcing that due process does not undermine the seriousness of the allegations.

“Every person, ordinary or senator, has equal rights. I actually consulted my legal staff before making that decision to allow them. On the other hand, the two senators have not been cleared of the budget insertions under the 2023 and 2025 GAA’s. I made that very clear.”