ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Lacson slams Cayetano for deflecting blame on ₱700-M 'wasted' taxpayer money

Lacson slams Cayetano for deflecting blame on ₱700-M 'wasted' taxpayer money

Published Jun 19, 2026 01:14 pm

At A Glance

  • Senator Panfilo Lacson accused Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano of dodging accountability for an estimated P700- million in wasted taxpayer funds during his 28-day Senate leadership.
  • The senator said the issue was not Senate operating costs but the lack of legislative output, citing boycotts and Facebook livestreams.
  • Sen. Lacson linked the estimated loss to 28 days of inactivity and several controversies during Cayetano's tenure.
Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson rebuked what he considered an attempt by Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano to deflect accountability on the issue of P700 million in wasted taxpayers’ money during his 28-day stint as Senate leader.
Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano (left), Senator Panfilo
Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano (left), Senator Panfilo "Ping" Lacson (Facebook)
Cayetano, in yet another lengthy Facebook Live, had claimed, among other things, that the Senate’s daily operating expenses of P25 million would have been incurred regardless of who was serving as Senate President.
“Tama naman — ‘Whoever was SP noon, ganun din ang gastos…’ Pero output ang pinag-uusapan: trabaho sa plenaryo, hindi boycott; magpasa ng batas, hindi mag-livestream sa Facebook. At kung ayaw tumulong, huwag na lang manggulo. Kaya nga sayang ang pera, kasi zero output,” Lacson said on X Thursday evening.
(“Whoever served as SP would indeed have incurred similar expenses. But the issue is output - working in plenary instead of boycotting sessions, passing laws instead of livestreaming on Facebook. And if you don’t want to help, at least don’t disrupt our work. Taxpayers’ money was wasted because there was zero output during Cayetano’s watch.”)
On Thursday morning, Lacson called out Cayetano for wasting at least P700 million when he led the chamber due to the lowlights that marred the Senate under his “leadership.”
He said the lowlights of the period included the shooting inside the Senate two days after Cayetano became Senate president; the escape of Sen. Ronald dela Rosa while under the Senate’s “protective custody”; a boycott of sessions by the Cayetano-led bloc; a failed destabilization try; and bogus committee hearings.
What Lacson called the “delulu” era in the Senate ended on June 3 when Sen.  Francis "Chiz" Escudero joined the then 11-member minority to form a quorum and elect Sherwin Gatchalian as acting Senate President. Gatchalian was formally elected Senate President during the Senate’s special session last June 17.
“As per estimate made by the erstwhile Finance Committee chairman, now SP Gatchalian, under the 2026 GAA, the Senate spends approximately P25M/day - salaries, allowances, MOOE, etc. Multiply that by 28 days of inaction and inactivity, it’s P700M,” Lacson said.

Related Tags

Alan Cayetano Ping Lacson Senate leadership TAXPAYERS
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ static_articles_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.