Lacson vows Senate will 'fight all the way' for pork-free 2026 budget

As lawmakers continue bicameral conference committee talks on the proposed 2026 national budget, Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” Lacson on Sunday said the Senate will “fight all the way” to ensure that the final spending measure remains free of pork barrel provisions.

In a radio interview, Lacson said the Senate is determined to prevent last-minute insertions that could open the door to corruption, particularly in infrastructure projects.

“The budget must be pork-free. It will be too much if, despite the fallout of the corruption behind the flood control project mess, there are still those who want to exploit public funds,” he emphasized.

While acknowledging that bicameral deliberations often involve compromise between the Senate and the House of Representatives, Lacson stressed that any give-and-take should not come at the expense of integrity.

“The bicam could be a matter of give-and-take, but we must ensure the integrity of the budget and not allow self-interest. The interest of constituents is important, but not the interest of kickbacks in infrastructure projects,” he said.

To guard against possible abuses, Lacson said Senate President Vicente Sotto III and Senate finance committee chair Sherwin Gatchalian have proposed what he described as a “novel idea” requiring senators to ratify not only the bicameral conference committee report but also the enrolled, or final, version of the budget bill.

“One more thing we will do is we’ll ratify not the bicam report but the final version, which is the enrolled bill, which incorporates the bicam report,” Lacson said, adding that this step would help ensure no unauthorized changes are introduced before the bill is sent to the President.

Lacson also highlighted reforms introduced by the Senate in its version of the 2026 budget, including the removal of so-called “allocables,” which he described as a new form of pork barrel because they allow funds to be set aside for projects that have yet to be identified.

The Senate version also scrapped the Sustainable Infra Projects Alleviating Gaps (SIPAG) after lawmakers found that many of its items carried the same titles as projects under the Department of Public Works and Highways’ Basic Infrastructure Program, raising concerns over possible duplication.

In addition, unprogrammed appropriations were trimmed to cover only what Lacson described as legitimate items, such as foreign-assisted projects and the Armed Forces of the Philippines modernization program.

Lacson said transparency measures were strengthened as well, with the Senate pushing for the livestreaming of the entire budget process, from committee hearings to bicameral meetings.

“One more good thing is that all of those who introduce amendments will have a sense of responsibility to make sure their projects are free of corruption,” he said. “Projects that go wrong will be traced to them.”

Bicameral talks on the proposed 2026 budget are ongoing, with both chambers expected to reconcile their versions of the spending measure.