In a renewed call for accountability in the national budget process, Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson on Wednesday emphasized the need to publicly disclose the proponents behind all budget amendments, including controversial insertions.
Lacson, known for his vigilant scrutiny of the national budget, warned that without such transparency, the country risks continuing a cycle of questionable infrastructure projects, such as substandard flood control systems and so-called “ghost projects.”
“The most genuine transparency is full transparency,” Lacson said.
In his post on X (formerly Twitter), Lacson argued that unless the identities of individual proponents are revealed, Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 4—intended to enhance transparency in the crafting of the 2026 national budget—would fall short of its goals.
During his interpellation of the resolution on Tuesday, Lacson pressed Senate Finance Committee chairperson Sherwin Gatchalian on whether proponents of specific budget amendments could be made public.
“Kung hindi rin full transparency, ayokong sabihing naglolokohan, pero hindi rin fully transparent. It will defeat the purpose. Because what we should identify, ang proponent kasi nandoon ang taguan. Pag di na-identify back to the proponent/s ng amendment/s, kanya-kanya tayong singitan na naman (If we don't have full transparency, I don't want to say we're just kidding each other, but we will not be fully transparent, and it will defeat the purpose of the resolution. We should identify the proponent because the hiding of 'pork' is there. If we don't trace amendments back to the proponents, this will allow questionable insertions all over again),” Lacson asserted.
Lacson criticized the current system where many amendments are passed quietly, without full disclosure or documentation, making it difficult to trace responsibility.
He cited instances during House deliberations where amendments are allegedly whispered rather than discussed in plenary.
“Ang hirap maghanap, mag-review sa budget deliberation,” Lacson shared, recalling the challenges faced by his staff in tracking budget changes from previous years.
“Pero kung may record ako kanino galing ang amendment, mas madali hong maghanap.”
While Gatchalian explained that uploading all documents related to the amendments could be too complex and suggested limiting uploads to committee reports, Lacson pushed back, arguing that full transparency is both necessary and feasible.
“It’s not really difficult if we want to do it,” he said. “Even amendments to the amendments to the amendments—hindi mahirap i-upload yan, especially written amendments.”
Lacson concluded by offering his assistance in implementing a more transparent system, saying he “is willing to help work on it to make it happen.”