Palace: Marcos didn’t discuss leadership fund with Bonoan

MANILA, Philippines — President Marcos had never discussed the “leadership fund” with former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) secretary Manuel Bonoan, Malacañang said yesterday.

“When (then) secretary Manny Bonoan was reporting, he (the President) was looking for projects and these projects should be based on the needs of an area. The funds are given to projects, not to people. Perhaps that is the reason why he (Bonoan) mentioned that the President wanted an equitable distribution, because that was the order of the President,” Palace press officer Claire Castro said.

“But when it comes to the leadership fund, it was never mentioned by the President and it has been denied by the economic team. So, if they had discussions among themselves at the DPWH, it was never a program of the President. The leadership fund is not in the GAA (General Appropriations Act),” she added.

“His (the President) order was to ensure that all projects are properly implemented,” Castro pointed out.

“I do not want to say that secretary Manny Bonoan was scolded, but in my latest conversation with the President, based on how his face looked, that was what he wanted to tell secretary Bonoan: ‘do your job properly,’ ” she said.

Transparency in 2027 budget

Defending the lawmakers’ use of the so-called leadership fund to finance local projects, Senate finance committee chairman JV Ejercito vowed that strict transparency measures would be in place for the 2027 national budget.

Ejercito said this will ensure that all legislative amendments are debated in open plenary rather than negotiated in secret.

He did not deny the practice when asked if he had received such allocations as he responded to claims by Bonoan that senators utilized the fund to secure P500 million to P1 billion each for pet projects under the 2025 budget.

“Let’s admit it. People approach us for concerns. But it should not be kept a secret,” Ejercito told radio dzBB.

He cited as an example certain requests from Cebu to fund neglected provincial hospitals, saying if he successfully pushed for the actual funding, the allocation is naturally attributed to his office.

“There are good and bad amendments I would say. But they’re not all bad. As long as you do it in an open plenary,” Ejercito explained.

No secret bicam

During his stint as finance committee chair last year, Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian introduced sweeping reforms aimed at making the entire budget process transparent, barring the highly secretive “small committee” during the bicameral conference committee meetings.

To draw the line between legitimate constituent funding and corruption, Ejercito promised transparent oversight.

Historically criticized as a secretive, “smoke-filled room” where lawmakers allegedly horse-trade billions in public funds behind closed doors, the bicam under Gatchalian’s watch introduced unprecedented oversight to the final stages of the budget’s passage.

“Last-minute insertions in the bicam is where it balloons,” Ejercito stated, recalling previous investigations where a district’s P2-billion infrastructure allocation mysteriously ballooned to as much as P18 billion after the closed-door meetings.

“This time, we will not allow that. We will flag that,” he said, adding that the 2027 budget deliberations will be entirely televised and open to civil society organizations to serve as active observers.

Ejercito’s push for open spending comes as the government plans to borrow approximately P1.2 trillion to support the proposed P7.2-trillion national budget for 2027.

He warned that the government must urgently accelerate public spending to rescue a slowing economy, noting that over-strict safeguards implemented after the flood control scandal have caused collateral damage. — Neil Jayson Servallos