Jauhn Etienne Villaruel

Senate President Vicente Sotto III attends the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing on anomalous flood control projects on Thursday, September 18, 2025. The hearing was also attended by officials from the Department of Public Works and Highways led by Sec. Vince Dizon, along with representatives of contractors implicated in alleged ghost and substandard projects nationwide. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News

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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/175910633083020250918-senate-flood-control-tito-sotto-JC0543.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Senate President Vicente Sotto III attends the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing on anomalous flood control projects on Thursday, September 18, 2025. The hearing was also attended by officials from the Department of Public Works and Highways led by Sec. Vince Dizon, along with representatives of contractors implicated in alleged ghost and substandard projects nationwide. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News</span></span></span></div><p>MANILA<strong> (UPDATE) </strong>— Senate President Vicente Sotto III on Monday said that &quot;amendments or insertions&quot; are &quot;part of the regular budget process&quot; as long as they were done during the deliberations.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/9/28/lacson-almost-all-senators-had-p100-b-insertions-in-2025-budget-1822">Lacson: ‘Almost all senators’ had P100-B insertions in 2025 budget</a></div><p>Sotto made the &quot;clarification&quot; after Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson revealed that “almost all” senators in the 19th Congress inserted items in the 2025 budget, amounting to around P100 billion.</p><p>&quot;It is unfortunate that the issue on ghost projects and failed flood control projects affect and generalized all amendments as illegal or improper,&quot; Sotto explained.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/9/25/senators-call-out-dbm-s-instant-release-of-funds-for-alleged-zaldy-co-insertions-1531">Senators call out DBM&#x27;s &#x27;instant&#x27; release of funds for alleged Zaldy Co insertions</a></div><p>&quot;Some of these amendments are for additional classrooms, farm to market roads and bridges that will benefit our people, especially those in the far flung provinces. Some of which were never funded and were tagged for later release (FLR),&quot; the Senate President added.</p><p>Sen. JV Ejercito also defended budget amendments, saying they &quot;are not tainted as long as there is no post enactment intervention.&quot;</p><p>&quot;One of our tasks is to introduce amendments after the budget hearings to support and further improve programs and projects,&quot; Ejercito said.</p><p>Lacson earlier said that while budget insertions were not entirely illegal, it was suspicious that there were insertions of around P5 to P9 billion for each lawmaker.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/9/19/what-are-unprogrammed-funds-gatchalian-says-they-are-pork-barrel-1225">What are &#x27;unprogrammed&#x27; funds? Gatchalian says they are &#x27;pork barrel&#x27;</a></div><p>Lacson emphasized that without any budget insertions, district engineering offices nationwide “do not have any funds to play with” anymore, describing this scheme as the “original sin.” </p><p>Sotto also vowed that for the 2026 budget, &quot;the Senate will institute changes for greater transparency, people’s participation and accountability.&quot;</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEOS</strong></div><div><br/></div><div><strong><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/YvzuUP5SpZo?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span></strong><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/enNnxeboATE?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>Senate President Vicente Sotto III on Monday said that "amendments or insertions" are "part of the regular budget process" as long as they were done during the deliberations.</p>

Senate President Vicente Sotto III on Monday said that "amendments or insertions" are "part of the regular budget process" as long as they were done during the deliberations.

Sotto says not all budget insertions are illegal following Lacson findings

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Sotto says not all budget insertions are illegal following Lacson findings

ABS-CBN News

Published Sep 29, 2025 08:45 AM PHT

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Updated Sep 29, 2025 08:56 AM PHT

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Senate

Tito Sotto

Ping Lacson

flood control

corruption

politics

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