Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” Lacson on Wednesday dismissed allegations that the Senate inserted a P17.9-billion pork barrel fund in the proposed 2026 national budget, saying the questioned amount was merely realigned to increase the subsistence allowance of uniformed personnel.

Lacson said claims made by former party-list representative Antonio Tinio regarding supposed “Senate pork” were either the result of “trabahong tamad” or a deliberate attempt to malign and destabilize the upper chamber.

“The ‘Senate pork’ referred to by Rep. Tinio are actually realignments to increase the subsistence allowance of the uniformed personnel from the Philippine National Police, Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, Bureau of Fire Protection, and the Philippine Coast Guard,” Lacson explained in a radio interview.

He added that Tinio was “either too lazy to do his research, or malevolently destabilizing the Senate to take the heat off the House of Representatives.”

Tinio earlier claimed that the Senate version of the 2026 General Appropriations Bill (GAB) contained an alleged P17.9-billion “LGU pork” and accused the Senate of cutting benefits for rank-and-file government employees to fund discretionary allocations for local government units.

Lacson refuted the accusation, clarifying that the funds in question were realigned from the Miscellaneous Personnel Benefits Fund (MPBF) to finance additional subsistence allowance for uniformed personnel.

“Gusto kong i-clarify mali ang sinasabi niya. Ang line na kinuha sa MPBF o Miscellaneous Personnel Benefits Fund, realign talaga yan pero sa additional subsistence allowance ng uniformed personnel (I want to clarify that what Tinio said was wrong. The amount was realigned from the Miscellaneous Personnel Benefits Fund but went to the additional subsistence allowance of uniformed personnel),” he said.

Lacson further emphasized that the move was an institutional amendment, noting that no individual senator stood to benefit from the realignment.

He also reiterated his earlier position that he would not sign the bicameral conference committee report on the 2026 budget unless questionable provisions are corrected.

These include a proposed increase in the budget for the Medical Assistance to Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients (MAIFIP) to P51 billion, as well as allocations for farm-to-market roads that he said may not have undergone proper vetting.

Lacson stressed the chamber’s commitment to transparency in the budget process and urged the public and media to remain vigilant against possible manipulation of the spending measure.

“All our Senate amendments are institutional and openly proposed on the Senate floor during the period of individual amendments,” Lacson said, noting that the proceedings were fully transcribed and are now part of official Senate records.

He also pointed out that bicameral conference committee deliberations are being livestreamed, allowing the public to closely monitor discussions on the final version of the 2026 national budget.