Jauhn Etienne Villaruel

Committee on Public Services chairperson Sen. Grace Poe echoes the concern of port users and other shipping industry stakeholders on the impending effects of increased port fees and charges to be imposed by the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA)  during the Senate panel's inquiry on Wednesday, April 12, 2023. Voltaire F. Domingo, Senate PRIB/File

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SENATE

Izzy Lee

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/175860444364020230412-ph-senate-grace-poe-SPRIB648.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Committee on Public Services chairperson Sen. Grace Poe echoes the concern of port users and other shipping industry stakeholders on the impending effects of increased port fees and charges to be imposed by the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA)  during the Senate panel&#x27;s inquiry on Wednesday, April 12, 2023. Voltaire F. Domingo, Senate PRIB/File </span></span></span></div><p>MANILA<strong> (UPDATE)</strong> — Former Sen. Grace Poe visited the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) office on Tuesday to explain the procedures involved in the budget process.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/9/22/sotto-lacson-brief-ici-on-budget-procedures-insertions-1310">Sotto, Lacson brief ICI on budget procedures, insertions</a></div><p>P462pxoe told the media that senators can submit individual institutional adjustments or proposed budget changes.</p><p>“So &#x27;yan, sina-submit &#x27;yan through secretariat namin and then the secretariat will coordinate with me and both houses, technical working group ng lower house tsaka ng Senate will need to reconcile those,&quot; she said.</p><div><br/></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?height=315&amp;href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Freel%2F1172385224798811%2F%3Fv&amp;show_text=false&amp;width=560&amp;t=0" width="560" height="315" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span>She added that all submitted amendments are ratified by both houses during the final bicameral conference. </div><p>&quot;As far as Senate amendments are concerned, it was presented and coordinated with the DBM because we wanted to make sure that this was possible in terms of categories we&#x27;re allowed to amend. So &#x27;yun &#x27;yung mga na-submit sakin,&quot; she said.</p><p>Regarding efforts of a &quot;small committee&quot; allegedly making &quot;illegal&quot; insertions for various infrastructure projects in the 2025 Poe clarified:</p><p>“I&#x27;m not really privy to that. Wala akong sinalihan na small committee, na closed door meetings with my counterpart in the House.&quot;</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>WHAT HAPPENED IN THE MEETING</strong></div><div><br/></div><p>Poe said the ICI was seeking to identify possible “ghost projects” and determine which legislators may have been proponents of them.</p><p>She added that the ICI wanted to know how to detect projects that may turn out to be substandard or fraudulent.</p><p>&quot;Halimbawa, nagkakaroon ng collusion between the contractor and DPWH and legislator, tapos naging substandard o &#x27;yung mga walang hiyang naging ghost project, &#x27;yun dapat tutukan,&quot; she said.</p><p>&quot;Sinabi ko naman po sa kanila, ang 2025 sa COA, wala pa, hindi pa nga tapos &#x27;yung taon so ang pwede ko lang mabigay sainyo &#x27;yung proseso ng naging budget,&quot; she added.</p><div><br/></div><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display:flex;max-width:560px;width:100%;margin-top:10px;margin-bottom:10px"><iframe id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" frameBorder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1970342545629827530&amp;lang=en&amp;maxWidth=560px&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fod2-workbench-web.abs-cbn.com%2F%23%2Fworkspace%2Fpersonal%3Fitem%3Durn%3Anewsml%3Aod2-workbench-api.abs-cbn.com%3A2025-09-23T03%3A36%3A11.001557%3Ae159d51b-6760-4b49-8d30-6a504e592324%26action%3Dcorrect&amp;sessionId=70b65290f43a061ce5d2430b638c66f50129d5e1&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&amp;width=550px" style="position:static;visibility:visible;width:463px;height:261px;display:block;flex-grow:1" data-tweet-id="1970342545629827530"></iframe></div><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charSet="utf-8"></script><div><br/></div><p>The commission also discussed the budgets of 2023 and 2024, which Poe said she had no involvement in.</p><p>&quot;I told them that I wasn&#x27;t the chairman of the budget during those times in question with regards to the ghost control projects,&quot; she said.</p><p>According to Poe, some amendments pass through the bicameral conference committee and may end up in the budget, whether as part of a senator’s individual amendment or the National Expenditure Program (NEP).</p><p>&quot;Walang masamang mag-amend, magbigay ng suhestyon na ito &#x27;yung pwdeng gawing inisiyatibo. Ang naging problema ay sa implementasyon kung merong ghost project kaya may binayaran o piniling contractor na di dumaan sa tamang bidding process,&quot; Poe said.</p><p>&quot;Bato bato sa langit talaga. Nakakalungkot isipin na may nasangkot na hindi mo akalain pero hindi kasi maghihilom ang bansa kung hindi natin gawin itong isang napakahirap na hakbang pero kailangan gawin,&quot; she added.</p><p>Poe also said that every amendment should indicate the name of its proponent legislator.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><div><br/><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Ov3ovqbbGzY?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>Former Sen. Grace Poe told the media that senators can submit individual institutional adjustments or proposed budget changes.</p>

Former Sen. Grace Poe told the media that senators can submit individual institutional adjustments or proposed budget changes.

Poe visits ICI, denies involvement in 'small committee' insertions

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Poe visits ICI, denies involvement in 'small committee' insertions

Izzy Lee,

ABS-CBN News

Published Sep 23, 2025 10:44 AM PHT

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Updated Sep 23, 2025 01:15 PM PHT

Read More:

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