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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Facts first: Abante refuses to rush judgement on senators' 'leadership funds'

Facts first: Abante refuses to rush judgement on senators' 'leadership funds'

Published Aug 15, 2026 09:11 pm

At A Glance

  • Rep. Bienvenido "Benny" Abante says he will not jump to conclusions on the alleged Senate "leadership fund," stressing the need to examine documents and facts first.
  • He admits it was the first time he heard of such a fund despite serving as vice chair of appropriations, questioning its existence and public purpose.
  • Abante calls for scrutiny of whether the appropriation appears in the budget, its implementing agency, and if lawmakers exercise prohibited control after the GAA's enactment, as the House begins review of the 2027 NEP.
Manila 6th district Rep. Bienvenido "Benny" Abante (MANILA BULLETIN, PPAB)
Manila 6th district Rep. Bienvenido "Benny" Abante (MANILA BULLETIN, PPAB)


House quad-committee (quad-comm) v2.0 overall chairman Manila 6th district Rep. Bienvenido "Benny" Abante Jr. refuses to jump to conclusions regarding the alleged "leadership fund" for senators.
“So sa akin, ito ang unang-una. Naniniwala ako na documents first, yung facts first (For me, we do this first. I believe in looking at the documents first, the facts first), then we make the legal conclusion on this,” Abante said during a news forum in Quezon City Saturday, Aug. 15.
It was last Wednesday when former Department of Public Works and Highways secretary Manuel Bonoan on Wednesday told the Sandiganbayan that all senators in the previous 19th Congress has at least P500 million each from the agency's fund to accommodate their pet projects.
Abante, a former vice chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations which handles deliberations on the annual national budget, says he wasn't familiar with the so-called leadership fund.
“Eh yung leadership fund ngayon ko lang narinig yun eh (It's only now that I've heard of it. I do not actually have personal knowledge of that eh,” Abante said.
“In fact, nang nabanggit 'yan first time kong nalaman na meron palang tinatawag na leadership fund. Alam mo naging vice chair ako ng appropriation pero hindi ko alam kung anung ibig sabihin niyang leadership fund na 'yan,” he added.
(In fact, when that was mentioned, it was the first time I learned that there is something called a leadership fund. You know, I became vice chair of appropriations but I didn’t know what that leadership fund meant.)
Rather than debate on the terminology, Abante said questions should focus on whether there was really such an identifiable budget item and what public purpose it served.
“The proper question should be like, what particular appropriation are we talking about? What does it appear in the budget? Kailan ito na-introduce? Anong public purpose nito? Sinong ahensya ang mag-i-implement nyan? (When was this introduced? What is the public purpose? Which agency will implement it?)” he asked.
He says scrutiny should also determine whether or not any lawmaker exercises prohibited control over an appropriation after the General Appropriations Act (GAA) has been enacted.
The House of Representatives will begin to scrutinize the P7.2-trillion National Expenditure Program (NEP) for 2027--the precursor to the General Appropriations Bill (GAB)--on Monday, Aug. 17.

Related Tags

Bienvenido \"Benny\" Abante quad-comm DPWH Manuel Bonoan Leadership fund
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