Jonathan Frederic De Santos

Senator Panfilo Lacson during the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing on anomalous flood control projects in Pasay City on January 19, 2026. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News

Article (news)

Lacson: No 'leadership fund' in 2026 budget

ABS-CBN News

MANILA — Sen. Panfilo Lacson said he believes there is no more so-called &quot;leadership fund&quot;, which he called improper but not necessarily illegal, in the 2026 National Budget.The alleged fund came up in former Public Works Secretary Manuel Bonoan&#x27;s testimony on Wednesday in a malversation case he faces at the Sandiganbayan.Lacson said he believes 2025 was the last budget year that the &quot;leadership fund&quot;, which he called &quot;a creation of Bonoan&quot; was used.He was a private citizen when that budget was prepared.Lacson added Bonoan&#x27;s testimony did not come as a surprise since he already knew <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/9/28/lacson-almost-all-senators-had-p100-b-insertions-in-2025-budget-1822">that &quot;almost all&quot; senators had insertions</a>, or amendments, in the 2025 budget.&quot;&#x27;Di ba nga, nung sinabi ko yun, nagkatampuhan pa rito. Sinabi ko naman, it doesn&#x27;t automatically mean na merong misuse kung merong allocable,&quot; he said.(Weren&#x27;t there hurt feelings when I said that? As I said then, having &#x27;allocable&#x27; funds doesn&#x27;t automatically mean misuse.)He said , though, that the practice could lead to abuse.<div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/8/12/senators-fire-back-at-bonoan-s-leadership-funds-allocation-claim-2129">Senators fire back at Bonoan’s ‘leadership funds’ allocation claim </a></div><div> </div><div>&#x27;IMPROPER&#x27;</div>Lacson maintained the leadership fund is not illegal, but improper, because it is disruptive to the multi-layered budget process.He said district representatives are part of local consultations for development plans and the National Expenditure Program — the executive&#x27;s proposed budget.&quot;So, dapat doon sila nagde-deliberate, doon nila nilalaban kung ano yung mga projects nila sa mga districts,&quot; he said.(That is where they should deliberate, where they should push for the projects their districts need.)He said that some lawmakers went beyond the consultation process and meddled in what should have been a purely executive branch exercise. He said that it had become a &quot;new form of pork barrel.&quot;He also said the &quot;allocables&quot; are different from institutional amendments, which are adjustments requested by implementing agencis.&quot;Halimbawa, kulang yung budget sa Universal Health Care Law sa program. Puwede kang kumuha doon sa nakita nating excess. Ililipat mo doon,&quot; he said.(For example, you can transfer excess funds to increase the budget for a program under the Universal Health Care Law.)The &quot;leadership fund&quot; was first exposed in September last year when Bonoan mentioned it during a Senate Blue Ribbon hearing that Lacson chaired on the flood-control scandal.Bonoan said the proposals were vetted with the Department of Public Works and Highways&#x27; planning service so the projects being included “are consistent with development programs.”Lacson said that &quot;while insertions per se do not automatically translate to misuse of public funds, it could open the floodgates of abuse and misuse of public funds for some corrupt politicians.&quot; — RG Cruz, ABS-CBN News

Sen. Panfilo Lacson said he believes there is no more so-called "leadership fund", which he called improper but not necessarily illegal, in the 2026 National Budget.

Sen. Panfilo Lacson said he believes there is no more so-called "leadership fund", which he called improper but not necessarily illegal, in the 2026 National Budget.