The mother of all insertions could be an item in the budget called the Convergence and Special Support Program (CSSP), which totaled P828 billion. This aligns with the cumulative congressional additions to the yearly budgets from 2018 to 2025, based on comparative analyses of the National Expenditure Program.

The exact annual breakdowns are not always publicly itemized because of the program’s lump-sum nature.

CSSP insertions exploded under the Marcos Jr. administration, or from 2022 to 2025, from less than P50 billion a year to over P200 billion annually.

It is branded as the “original sin” of corruption, which allows for anomalous flood control projects or P211 billion worth of hidden funds in CSSP’s “Sipag” subprogram from 2022 to 2025.

Former Budget Secretary Florencio Abad estimates total congressional insertions at P1.45 to P2 trillion from 2023 to 2025, with the CSSP absorbing about 40 percent of these funds via the Department of Public Works and Highways.