Palace defends insertions amid Sandro’s P4.37-B ‘windfall’

Budget insertions are not inherently bad as long as the projects benefit the public, the funds are properly used, and no money is pocketed by corrupt officials, so asserted Palace Press Officer and Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary Claire Castro.

“Regardless of which congressman it is, if the funds allocated to his district are properly used, there are no ghost projects, and no substandard materials used in the projects, there should be no problem because insertions are not generally bad. They become bad only when the money is inserted into a politician’s pocket,” Castro said in Filipino.

Castro was responding to the reported discovery by People’s Budget Coalition convener Kenneth Abante that Ilocos Norte Rep. Sandro Marcos’ district received P4.37 billion worth of projects among the 405 Department of Public Works and Highways infrastructure projects now under scrutiny.

“Perhaps we should simply look at whether the project is good, regardless of which congressman it is for, and whether it is allocated to their district. There is nothing wrong with it, as long as they always keep in mind what the President wants — the funds are for Filipinos, not for any politician’s pocket,” she added, in a press conference in Cagayan de Oro City on Tuesday.

At a Senate hearing Tuesday, Abante said the amount allocated to Marcos’s district was the largest among the projects being examined by his group. It has been described by government critics as a “windfall” or “manna from heaven.”

The issue comes days after the Supreme Court struck down several budget provisions, including a P449.5-billion increase in Unprogrammed Appropriations under the 2024 national budget and a P17.99-billion increase in the DPWH Special Road Fund under the 2025 budget.

The Court ruled that Congress could not exceed the total appropriations recommended by the President in the National Expenditure Program and it invalidated certain provisions governing the release of unprogrammed funds under the 2026 budget.