Senate draws line: ‘Pork ends here’

As lawmakers continue Bicameral Conference talks on the proposed 2026 national budget, Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” Lacson on Sunday vowed that the Senate will “fight all the way” to keep the final spending measure free from pork barrel provisions.

In a radio interview, Lacson emphasized the Senate’s resolve to block any last-minute insertions that could invite 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 prevent potential abuses, Lacson said Senate President Vicente Sotto III and Finance Committee Chair Sherwin Gatchalian have proposed a “novel idea”: requiring senators to approve not only the bicameral conference committee report but also the enrolled, 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, noting that this step would help ensure that no unauthorized changes are introduced before the bill is sent to the President.

Lacson also highlighted several reforms introduced by the Senate in its version of the 2026 budget. These include 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 names as projects under the Department of Public Works and Highways’ Basic Infrastructure Program, raising concerns about possible duplication.

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

Lacson said transparency measures were also strengthened, 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 bill.