Senate majority united in stripping 2027 budget bill of ‘corruption-prone items’ – Lacson

PING LACSON. Senator Ping Lacson speaks during the Senate plenary debates on the 2026 budget on November 18, 2025.

Senate PRIB

Senator Ping Lacson says no one will be spared in their bid to 'cleanse' the proposed 2027 budget

MANILA, Philippines – The Senate majority bloc is united in removing “corruption-prone” items from the House-approved version of the proposed 2027 national budget, Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson said.

“The majority of senators are rallying behind Senate finance committee chairman JV Ejercito’s efforts to cleanse the 2027 budget of unwarranted, whimsical, and corruption-prone items — all means all!” Lacson said in a social media post.

Over the weekend, Lacson said Ejercito had secured the commitment of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) that it will submit all supporting documents for its infrastructure projects by Tuesday, November 3. Projects without the required documents would be removed from the House-approved version of the 2027 General Appropriations Bill (GAB).

Budget advocacy groups, including the People’s Budget Coalition (PBC) and BetterGovPH, had flagged nearly 7,000 projects worth P190 billion with no published project attachments in the HGAB.

A separate Senate review also found that the number of DPWH projects had increased from 11,420 in the National Expenditure Program (NEP) to 16,244 in the House-approved GAB. Of these, 6,271 were new projects introduced by lawmakers without prior vetting by the executive branch.

Lacson also said Ejercito would invite civil society organizations to observe the bicameral conference committee deliberations on the budget, which would be livestreamed to promote transparency.

The Senate will take up the budget bill when plenary sessions resume on November 9, with plenary debates expected to begin on November 23. – Rappler.com