Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III has refuted claims that the Senate—particularly he and Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” Lacson—had cut the budgets of congressional districts, calling the accusations “unfounded” and “black propaganda.”

Sotto said this on Thursday, Nov. 27, revealing that he was informed that several members of the House of Representatives had contacted his political officer, expressing concern that their district allocations were allegedly being reduced in the Senate.

Sotto has so far not explained the context behind the claims made by some House members but rejected the claim outright. 

According to Sotto, neither he nor Lacson had touched district budgets, noting that the Senate finance chairman could confirm this. He urged House members to raise their concerns with their own appropriations chairman.

“There is nothing happening here. Wala kaming iniislash or ginagalaw sa mga district ng GAB (We’re not slashing any fund or removing from the districts in the GAB),” he said, adding that the chamber had not made any amendments yet since deliberations remained in the period of interpellation.

Sotto also dismissed accusations that he and Lacson had cut the budgets of House members as “black propaganda.”

“Yung mga sinasabi kami ni Senator Lacson cinut naming lahat mga budget daw nila yan po ay maliwanag na black propaganda. Just for the record (The claims that Senator Lacson and I supposedly cut all their budgets are clearly black propaganda. Just for the record),” he said.