Sen. Ping Lacson Hits Back at Sen. Imee Marcos
PING LACSON – The Senate President Pro Tempore accused Sen. Imee Marcos of allegedly having a P2.5 billion allocables in the National Expenditure Program (NEP) supposed based in the “Cabral Files”.
Pres. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. signed the 2026 national budget amounting to P6.79 trillion a week after the country operated on a reenacted budget in the first week of the year. The ceremonial signing was held at the Malacañang Palace and several members of the Marcos Jr. Cabinet was present at the event.
In the said 2026 national budget, the Department of Public Works and Highways or DPWH still gets second of the biggest budget among the key departments under the government. Amid the flood control mess, the department’s budget for this year was slashed by over P300 billion compared to what as originally stated in the NEP.
- Department of Education — P1.015 trillion
- Department of Public Works and Highways — P530.9 billion
- Department of Health — P448.1 billion
- Department of the Interior and Local Government — P310.5 billion
- Department of National Defense — P310.0 billion
- Department of Agriculture — P297.1 billion
- Department of Social Welfare and Development — P270.2 billion
- Department of Transportation — P141.0 billion
- Department of Labor and Employment — P73.6 billion
- Judiciary — P70.6 billion
DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon previously thanked the bicameral conference committee over the budget for the department and assured that it will be used in the proper manner. According to him, the amount is not an issue. The reduced budget of the department came after several DPWH officials were accused of corruption supposedly through the flood control projects funded by the government.
The supposed multi-billion flood control corruption implicated not only DPWH officials but as well as several members of the House of Representatives and some senators. The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee which is currently led by Senate President Pro Tempore Ping Lacson investigated the matter.
Marcos Jr. scrapped several unprogrammed budget in the 2026 national fund. Here are the UAs rejected by the President:
- Budgetary Support for Government Owned and Controlled Corporations: P6.895 billion
- Prior Years’ Local Government Unit Shares: P14.623 million
- Insurance of Government Assets and Interests: P2 billion
- Payment of Personnel Services Requirements: P43.245 billion
- CARS Program (Automotive Industry Support): P4.32 billion
- RACE Program (Automotive Industry Competitiveness): P250 million
- Government Counterpart for Certain Foreign-Assisted Projects: P35.77 billion
However, Sen. Imee Marcos slammed the 2026 budget. According to her, there is allegedly “soft pork” still in the country’s fund for this year. Her remarks earned a reaction from Sen. Pork Lacson.
Based on a post of News5, Sen. Ping Lacson claimed that Sen. Imee Marcos allegedy has a P2.5 billion allocable in the NEP based on the “Cabral Files” — the alleged documents of the late former DPWH Undersecretary Maria Catalina Cabral. He stressed that she’s allegedly the one with the “soft pork”.
“Mayroon siyang allocable doon na P2.5 billion sa NEP sa Cabral Files… Kung ganyang ang definition niya ng pork, siya ang maty pork,” Lacson said.
Amid the various reactions, Malacañang previously revealed the side of the Marcos Jr. administration on the 2026 national budget.
