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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider 'Trabahong tamad': Lacson rebuts Tinio's 'Senate pork' claims

'Trabahong tamad': Lacson rebuts Tinio's 'Senate pork' claims

Published Dec 17, 2025 03:49 pm

At A Glance

  • Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo "Ping" Lacson on Wednesday, December 17 dismissed claims made by Rep. Antonio Tinio alleging the inclusion of a P17.9-billion pork barrel fund for the Senate in the 2026 national budget saying it is just mere "lazy work" or a malicious attempt to destabilize the Senate.

Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” Lacson on Wednesday, December 17 dismissed claims made by Rep. Antonio Tinio alleging the inclusion of a P17.9-billion pork barrel fund for the Senate in the 2026 national budget saying it is just mere “lazy work” or a malicious attempt to destabilize the Senate.

According to Lacson, the supposed “pork barrel” in the Senate are actually realignments to increase the subsistence allowance of the uniformed personnel from the Philippine National Police (PNP), Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP), and Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) and also the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG).

“Rep. Tinio is either too lazy to do his research, or he is malevolently destabilizing the Senate to take the heat off the House of Representatives,” he added.

Lawmakers of the House of Representatives earlier earned flak after the massive increase in the Medical Assistance to Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients (MAIFIP) under the 2026 national budget was disclosed. 

The House contingent had requested to raise the MAIFIP budget to P51-billion. 

Senators also questioned the allocation of billions of funds for potentially unvetted farm-to-market roads (FMRs) under the Department of Agriculture (DA).

Lacson earlier said he would not sign to ratify the bicameral conference committee report on the 2026 budget unless these are corrected.

Following this, Tinio was quoted in reports Tuesday as saying the Senate had an alleged ₱17.9-billion "LGU pork" in its version of the 2026 budget bill. 

The lawmaker also alleged that the Senate version had massive cuts to benefits for rank-and-file government employees, which was then realigned to “discretionary pork barrel funds for local government units (LGUs).

“I want to clarify that what Tinio said was wrong. The amount was realigned from the Miscellaneous Personnel Benefits Fund (MPBF) but went to the additional subsistence allowance of uniformed personnel,” Lacson said in an interview on DZBB radio.

Lacson also pointed out that the amount was an institutional amendment, with the proponent not standing to gain from it.

The senator also reiterated his and the Senate's commitment to keep the budget process transparent.

To this, he called on the media and the public to stay vigilant to prevent manipulations in the budget bill, especially now that the proceedings in the bicameral conference committee are being livestreamed.

“All our (Senate) amendments are institutional and openly proposed on the Senate floor during the period of individual amendments. Everything was transcribed and is now part of the Senate records for all future generations of senators to see,” he added.

Related Tags

Ping Lacson bicameral conference committee House of Representatives SENATE 2026 national budget
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