Looks like the word war between Ako Bicol Party-list Rep. Alfredo Garbin Jr. and Navotas City lone district Rep. Toby Tiangco is far from over.

On Saturday, Sept. 6, Garbin denied that he was diverting from the issue of controversial allocations in the budget, which Tiangco had been raising in and out of plenary for weeks now amid the deliberations on the P6.793-trillion National Expenditure Program (NEP) for 2026.

It's just that Tiangco is being "hypocritical" about it, according to Garbin.

“The truth is simple. If we are serious about accountability, then we must scrutinize all insertions — yours included. Otherwise, your posturing is nothing more than hypocrisy,” Garbin told Tiangco.

“I’m not diverting from the issue of controversial allocations. There’s also no question that Navotas, like many other areas, is prone to floods and needs government help. But I take issue with Congressman Tiangco’s hypocrisy against insertions when he himself had billions coursed to his small district," he said.

"Worse, the contracts were bagged by contractors flagged by President Marcos and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH),” Garbin added.

The Bicolano was referring to St. Timothy Construction Corporation and SYMS Trading Construction--two firms linked to anomalous flood control projects.

Garbin says Tiangco’s over P529 million in flood funding is only the tip of the iceberg. “At the proper time, I will expose more of his insertions which run into the billions,” he said.

Tiangco earlier defended the P529 million in additional allocations that Navotas received in the current 2025 national budget. He argued that he could not have inserted the funds himself since he was not part of the Bicameral Conference Committee tasked to handle the final stages of the budget process.

But Garbin said that Tiangco’s denial sidestepped the bigger question: That is, why contractors flagged in President Marcos' own “Top 15” list — accused of cornering P100 billion worth of projects — were allowed to handle major works in Navotas?

“You rail against alleged insertions by Ako Bicol and other lawmakers, yet billions flowed into your backyard and cornered by contractors the President himself called out,” Garbin pointed out.

Earlier this week, Garbin blasted Tiangco for “sanctimonious grandstanding", and bared that Navotas had been awash with flood control funds for years but remained submerged in floodwater.

“The people deserve to know whether these funds actually translated into protection from floods or just lined the pockets of favored builders,” he added.

Reports from the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) and recent DPWH disclosures show that firms tied to questionable deals during the Duterte administration resurfaced under Marcos, and secured projects in flood-prone areas like Navotas.

Garbin went on to challenge Tiangco to explain how billions in taxpayer money brought little relief to Navoteños who still wade through chest-deep floods.

“You can’t lecture everybody about insertions when your own district mirrors the very abuse you denounce,” he said.

In a separate statement Saturday, Tiangco says that it's Garbin, and not him, who has "lost his mind".

"Siguro si Cong Garbin ang nasira na yung ulo kakaisip ng palusot para sa amo niyang si Cong Zaldy Co, kaya hindi niya nararamdaman ang galit ng tao sa issue ng corruption sa House of Representatives," he said.

(Maybe Cong Garbin has lost his mind from thinking up excuses for his boss, Cong Zaldy Co, which is why he can’t feel the public’s anger over the issue of corruption in the House of Representatives.)

(Marami pang matinong Congressman, hindi ko lang alam bakit isinasakripisyo ang integridad ng institusyon para pagtakpan ang kasalanan ng iilan (There are still many decent congressmen, I just don’t understand why the integrity of the institution is being sacrificed to cover up the wrongdoing of a few)," added the independent solon.

Tiangco has been seeking out Garbin's fellow nominee, Ako Bicol Party-list Rep. Zaldy Co, for answers regarding the alleged insertions in the current P6.352-trillion General Appropriations Act (GAA) for 2025.

The outlay was crafted during the final year of the previous 19th Congress, when Co chaired the Committee on Appropriations. Co is in the United States (US) for medical reasons.

On Friday, Garbin said that Tiangco had seemingly lost his mind over his frustrations in the House of Representatives, which allegedly included failed bids to become House Speaker and/or appropriations panel chairman.