A word war has erupted between Senator Imee Marcos and Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo "Ping" Lacson over the 2026 national budget and the handling of the flood control investigation by the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee.

In a previous interview, Marcos stated she has given up on the flood control investigation since the removal of Senator Rodante Marcoleta as the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee Chairman, alleging that investigators were barred from pursuing higher-level officials and contractors involved in the projects.

Marcos has also repeatedly raised questions about the 2026 budget, which she has previously criticized as a “giniling” or minced pork budget, suggesting that large allocations for various forms of assistance and infrastructure projects could be linked to political objectives, including impeachment.

Yet on Sunday, it seems Lacson has had enough of Marcos' tirades, and revealed that the presidential sister has an allocable fund worth at least P2.5 billion in the 2025 National Expenditure Program (NEP) based on the so-called “Cabral files".

Lacson added that Marcos has no moral ascendancy to criticize since she has "pork" herself, also questioning the latter's lack of pushback despite being a member of the bicameral conference committee.

Lacson also stated that he cannot understand Marcos’ criticisms against the Blue Ribbon panel. Lacson said that by insulting the Blue Ribbon Committee, she is undermining its integrity.

In a Facebook post on Sunday, Marcos only responded to Lacson's budget remarks, stating that she finds him funny, together with a publication material with the words "Gigil yarn? Baka makipagsabunutan! (Why so worked up? You want to fight?)" together with a photo of her and Lacson.

"'Di niya alam na lahat yan ay wishlist na binigay sa DPWH Central Office. Clueless ba siya na kaming mga oposisyon lahat FLR or 'for later release' kaya ni isa diyan ay walang naibigay, zero kaming lahat nila Bong Go, Bato at Robin! (He doesn’t know that all of those were just wish lists submitted to the DPWH Central Office. Is he clueless that all of us in the opposition were tagged as FLR, or ‘for later release,’ so not a single peso was released—zero for all of us, including Bong Go, Bato, and Robin!)" she said.

"At, malay ko ba sa allocables ng admin, sa aming dalawa, hindi ako ang abogada ng Malacañang (And as for the administration’s allocables, how would I know? Between the two of us, I’m not Malacañang’s lawyer)," she added.

She ended her statement with a tongue-in-cheek remark stating that Lacson seems to be getting a bit too worked up over her that he might even want to pull her hair, stating that she'd surely lose in that one.

What followed is a post of hers in a salon stating that Lacson really had to annoy her right while she was at the salon. In another post, she said that they're making an issue of her whose wish list was not granted, while those who raked in the money are being ignored.

In a new post on Monday, Jan. 12, Marcos responded to a quote allegedly from Lacson that states: "I say again--people ought to be reminded to reflect on their own actions before criticizing others."

"Tumingin muna tayo sa compact mirror bago mag-advise (Let’s look in the compact mirror first before giving advice)," she said.