Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” Lacson on Sunday rejected allegations made by Senator Imee Marcos against the 2026 General Appropriations Act (GAA), saying she has no moral authority to criticize the budget after allegedly having her own “allocable funds” in the 2025 national budget.
Lacson said information from the so-called “Cabral files” showed that Marcos had P2.5 billion to as much as P3.5 billion in allocable funds under the 2025 National Expenditure Program (NEP), which he described as similar to pork barrel insertions.
“Meron siyang allocable doon na P2.5 billion sa NEP sa Cabral files. Meron din siyang napasama… Kung hindi P2.5 billion, nasa P3.5 billion. At ang FLR niya may na-release doon,” Lacson said in a radio interview.
He added that Marcos’ criticism of the signed 2026 budget, which she described as being "giniling pork" or riddled with pork, was inconsistent with her own alleged participation in budget insertions.
“Siya ang nag-iingay na tahasang kini-criticize niya ano ang budget ng 2026, ang napirmahan, sinabi niya may tadtad ng pork, may giniling, may tinadtad pero pork pa rin. Kung ganyan ang definition niya ng pork, siya ang may pork. So wala siyang moral ascendancy para i-criticize,” Lacson said.
Sen. Marcos earlier claimed that the 2026 GAA, signed into law by her brother, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., was not a developmental budget but a “political” one.
Meanwhile, Lacson also questioned why Marcos did not raise her concerns while serving as a member of the Bicameral Conference Committee (bicam), which reconciled the House and Senate versions of the budget.
“Unang una, member siya ng bicam. Bakit di siya nag-raise ng issue, nang nasa bicam siya, tadtad ng pork ito? Wala tayong narinig sa kanya pero nandoon siya sa bicam,” he said.
He further noted that while Marcos complained about increased funding for social assistance programs in the 2026 budget—such as the Medical Assistance to Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients (MAIFIP) and Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations (AICS), which she labeled as “soft pork”—she allegedly had pork allocations in the 2025 GAA and even personally attended aid distribution activities last year.
Lacson also denied Marcos’ claim that members of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee were allegedly barred from linking certain personalities, including House Speaker Martin Romualdez, to the supposed anomalies in flood control projects.
“Unang una paano niyang masasabing pinagbawalan, hindi naman siya nag-a-attend ng hearing?” Lacson said. “Meron akong nasabi ko na ito, the best response to nonsense is silence. Pero pagka nag-iinsulto na, hindi mo na rin pwedeng i-disregard. Iniinsulto niya ang Blue Ribbon Committee, ina-undermine niya ang integridad ng committee na member din naman siya doon. Bakit di siya mag-attend at tanungin niya?”
Lacson stressed that there is currently no sufficient evidence linking Romualdez to the alleged flood control anomalies, adding that the investigation is ongoing and evidence-based.
He also declined to speculate on claims that pork funds were supposedly offered to House members in exchange for an impeachment move against Vice President Sara Duterte.
In response, Senator Imee Marcos dismissed Lacson’s statements, calling them “amusing.”
“Medyo nakakatawa siya,” Marcos said, explaining that the items cited were merely a “wishlist” submitted to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Central Office.
“Clueless ba siya na kaming mga oposisyon lahat FLR… ni isa diyan ay walang naibigay, zero kaming lahat nila Bong Go, Bato at Robin!” Marcos said.
She added that opposition senators’ allocations were tagged as “for later release” (FLR) and that none of the funds were actually released.
She also denied knowledge of “allocables of the administration,” saying, “Hindi ako ang abogada ng Malacañang.”
Marcos ended her statement with a light remark, saying Lacson appeared overly aggressive toward her. “Parang masyadong gigil itong si Senator Ping sa akin, baka makipagsabunutan—sure akong talo ako diyan!”
