Senator Juan Miguel "Migz" Zubiri said on Friday, Aug. 29, that the national budget is being utilized for what he called a "money-making racket", a difference that he noted when it came to their role of scrutinizing it.

According to Zubiri, when it comes to the budget process, parliamentary traditions were followed since previous Congresses, even before he became a senator or a member of the House of Representatives.

But he stated: "The only difference now is, marami nang gumagamit nitong budget (many are already using this budget) for money-making racket," he said in an interview on Friday, Aug. 29.

"Parang nalaman na nila pwede silang maglagay ng pondo dito sa proyekto na ito at pwede nilang nakawin yung pondo (It’s like they discovered that they can allocate funds to this project and steal the money)," he added.

According to Zubiri, the change also came in the form of secrecy and a lack of transparency in negotiations, especially in the "small bicam" meetings. This “small bicam” refers to a closed-door meeting involving a select group of members from both the Senate and the House of Representatives.

"Bulagaan na lang eh. Overnight, pag nagkaroon ng bicam, ng small bicam, nandun na lahat ng projects (It comes as a surprise. Overnight, once a bicam or a small bicam happens, all the projects are suddenly included)," he said.

For Zubiri, the only way to go is for senators to "man up", own their amendments, and defend them.

He emphasized that there's nothing wrong with introducing amendments, especially if they are really needed by a certain agency or province. When it comes to implementation, it should no longer involve either the senators or the congressmen.

"Transparency is key here," he said.

Recently, Sen. Panfilo “Ping" Lacson scored an "early win" in his efforts to ensure transparency in the budget process, after he set two demands to which Senate finance committee chairman Sherwin Gatchalian agreed.

Following a “solution-finding discussion”, Lacson said Gatchalian agreed to name the proponents of the amendments on the floor, to put it on record.

Meanwhile, Zubiri added that the "past" can always be inspected, which he said is the reason why ghost flood control projects are suddenly being exposed, and that this is also why he's urging the President to come up with a third-party group to investigate this.

"Kasuhan, yung kailangan kasuhan kasi kung hindi natin kakasuhan ay talagang hindi po mawawala itong corruption na ito lalo lang paggamit sa agencies or funds of government (File charges against those who should be charged because if we don’t, this corruption—especially the misuse of agencies or government funds—will never end)," he said.