As lawmakers start threshing out the differing provisions in their version of the 2026 national budget, senators zeroed in on the questionable budget increase for the Medical Assistance to Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients (MAIFIP) and farm-to-market roads (FMR).

Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” Lacson warned he will not sign to ratify the bicameral conference committee report on the 2026 budget unless provisions granting the MAIFIP a huge budget increase and the billions allocated for potentially unvetted FMRs are corrected.

“Sorry, unless rectified in its final version, I cannot sign to ratify a bicam report with P51 billion for MAIFIP, with nothing but guarantee letters from politicians and is not compliant with the Universal Health Care (UHC) Act,” Lacson said.

“Further, I will not associate myself with the P33-billion spending for unplanned and unvetted farm-to-market roads,” he further said.

During the first day of the bicameral deliberations on the budget bill on Saturday, December 13, senators relented to House lawmakers’ appeal and agreed to increase the MAIFIP's 2026 budget to P51 billion—higher than the P42-billion in 2025.

The amount is bigger than the House's initial proposal of P49-billion, which the Senate cut to P29-billion.

Lacson repeatedly insisted of adequately funding UHC programs such that they cover all barangays and ensure zero billing to ensure full success of the UHC law.

As such, Lacson said all health-related funds must be subsumed under the UHC program of the Department of Health (DOH).

According to Lacson, the MAIFIP reeks of political patronage, as it allows government officials to issue guarantee letters (GLs) for indigent patients.

“Guarantee letters (GLs) from politicians will only guarantee patronage politics but not the health care needs of Filipinos, especially the indigents,” he stressed.

Aside from the MAIFIP, Lacson also called for transparency as he questioned provisions granted by the bicameral committee regarding the FMR program.

Lacson said it is imperative to know whether the list of FMRs—that would be potentially funded by the realignment of P255.5-billion in flood control project funds—came from the Department of Agriculture (DA) itself or from House lawmakers.

“That's right…where is the justification for the FMR and where is the data?” Lacson said in an interview on Radio DZBB, lamenting the lack of assurance and safeguards in its implementation.

“Sen. (Sherwin) Gatchalian's suggestion is right, there should be grid coordinates, it should be studied according to the masterplan, (and) who needs it?” the senator pointed out, adding that the P33-billion allocation for FMR funds could just be another pork barrel.

Sen. Erwin Tulfo also aired his reservations over the P33-billion budget for FMR, noting it is a P17-billion increase from what was originally proposed under the National Expenditure Program (NEP).

“I also have reservations on this because it’s P33-billion. This is such a huge amount. While I know that our farmers need this, the problem is that the public might think that we may have removed the flood control projects, but we replaced it with farm-to-market roads,” Tulfo remarked.

“The Filipino people who are watching us right now cannot help but think that there might be problems with this. That the issues in flood control will only transfer to farm-to-market roads,” he added.

Sen. Pia Cayetano, also pointing to the large increase, underscored that the budget for FMRs for 2026 might be bloated to as high as P43-billion because of the P11 billion unreleased funds from 2025.

“That’s a lot. And we have to remember that this amount is [originally] roughly around P16 billion. It’s almost times three... I am surprised that the masterplan has yet to be developed,” Cayetano said.

During the meeting, House Appropriations Panel Chairman Mika Suansing clarified that the masterplan is already extensive but some far-flung areas are not yet included.

Sen. Loren Legarda on the other hand, pointed out that “FMRs are needed but must not be distributed according to Congressional Districts.

“It must be distributed or implemented according to the need of the area, based on population, land area, and others, and not through politically divided districts,” she stressed.

Tulfo then called on the DA to provide assurance that safety measures are being properly implemented.

“When we say that there are safety measures or guards in place, it means that these will be implemented properly. It’s P33-billion, Mr. Chair, that’s not a joke. It’s a big amount of money,” he pointed out.

“We do not have flood control projects in the 2026 budget and the people might say: ‘These legislators might have found out another way to get a budget,” he reiterated.