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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Estrada, Villanueva not yet cleared in budget insertion issue—Lacson

Estrada, Villanueva not yet cleared in budget insertion issue—Lacson

Published Sep 19, 2025 11:07 am  |  Updated Sep 19, 2025 01:22 pm

At A Glance

  • Sen. Panfilo "Ping" Lacson said their accuser, former Bulacan assistant district engineer Brice Hernandez, may have shown "selective" memory but by no means are they cleared from the issue even if they were allowed to face their accuser.

Senators Jinggoy Estrada and Joel Villanueva are not yet cleared from the issue of millions of pesos in insertions in the General Appropriations Act (GAA) for 2023 and 2025.

Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” Lacson made the remark on Thursday, evening, following a lengthy public hearing on the anomalies in flood control projects.

Lacson said their accuser, former Bulacan assistant district engineer Brice Hernandez may have shown “selective” memory but by no means are they cleared from the issue even if they were allowed to face their accuser.

“By any measure, Senators Villanueva and Estrada have not been cleared, at least on the issue of budget insertions involving infrastructure projects in Bulacan worth P600M and P355M respectively, as alleged by Engr Brice Hernandez,” Lacson said on X.

https://x.com/iampinglacson/status/1968642412420460822

During the recent hearing of the Blue Ribbon Committee, Lacson said P600-million supposedly for flood control projects in Bulacan was found in the Unprogrammed Fund under the 2023 GAA, which Hernandez earlier linked to Villanueva, who had repeatedly denied the allegation.

Lacson noted the P600 million was culled from documents provided by Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian contained in the slides.

Hernandez had pointed out that Villanueva's alleged flood control projects came from unprogrammed funds in the 2023 GAA.

“There are seven to eight items worth P75-million each, exactly P600-million,” Lacson said, but told Hernandez he had a “selective memory” as he could not answer Lacson's other questions.

“I'm telling you, hindi pwedeng selective dito. Pag nangako kang magsasabi ng totoo sabihin mo di lang kung convenient (I'm telling you, you cannot be selective here. If you promise to tell the truth, it must be the whole truth, not what's convenient for you),” he told Hernandez.

Lacson also said his office found in the regular budget of the 2025 GAA the P355-million in infrastructure projects in Bulacan that Hernandez linked to Estrada. Estrada similarly denied Hernandez's allegations.

Lacson said he allowed the two senators to take part in the Blue Ribbon Committee hearing because it is a person's basic right to face his accuser.

“It is a person’s basic right to confront his accuser. In case you didn’t notice, I did not clear the two senators on the issue of budget insertions bcoz the budget books validate Brice Hernandez’s allegations based on my own staff’s research, at least in the case of Sen Estrada,” he said in a separate post on X.

https://x.com/iampinglacson/status/1968639761620378051

“Every person, ordinary or senator, has equal rights. I actually consulted my legal staff before making that decision to allow them. On the other hand, the two senators have not been cleared of the budget insertions under the 2023 and 2025 GAA’s. I made that very clear today,” he added.

https://x.com/iampinglacson/status/1968656537154412849

Related Tags

ping lacson flood control probe Jinggoy Estrada Joel Villanueva Blue Ribbon
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