Incoming Sen. Ping Lacson Scrutinized 2025 National Budget
PING LACSON – The incoming Senator claimed that the government allegedly allotted a P10 billion-budget for a “small town”.
Incoming Sen. Lacson who is part of the “conscience bloc” that fellow incoming Sen. Tito Sotto previously confirmed is one of the winning senatorial candidates backed by the Marcos administration during the 2025 Midterm Elections. He was part of the Alyansa Para Sa Pagbabago senatorial slate endorsed by Pres. Bongbong Marcos.

According to incoming Sen. Sotto who is also a member of the Alyansa, their bloc will ensure that the Senate follows the rules and procedures mandated under the Constitution. Aside from Lacson and Sotto, the current members of the “conscience bloc” also includes Sen. Loren Legarda and Sen. Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri.

Recently, incoming Sen. Ping Lacson spoke about his findings following his scrutiny of the 2025 National Budget. Based on a report on Inquirer, the returning Senator claimed that there was allegedly a line in the national fund that showed that “a very small barangay in a small town” got P1.9 billion allocation.

Lacson further claimed that another small town was allegedly allotted a P10 billion budget. The incoming Senator stressed that the said town only have 10,000 people living in it.
“Imagine a P10-billion appropriation for a small town with 10,000 residents. It is an inequitable distribution of the budget,” the incoming Senator said.
According to incoming Sen. Ping Lacson, he will seek clarification about the matter. Based on the report, he also claimed that the “small town” with a P10 billion budget allotment is located near a riverbank.
“What happened to the P10 billion appropriated to the small town? We saw that it is near a riverbank, but is it the only town with a riverbank? These appropriations are for flood control,” he expressed.
Incoming Sen. Ping Lacson also claimed that there are allegedly senators now who receive “pork barrel”. He claimed that some senators supposedly received P5 billion while others got P10 billion. He also claimed that there’s a congressman who allegedly received as much as P15 billion. He stressed that it has been 12 years since the Supreme Court declared the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) unconstitutional.
The “conscience bloc” will support incoming Sen. Tito Sotto for the Senate presidency. However, Sen. Migz Zubiri admitted that some senators may not like Sotto for the Senate presidency citing that he’s “too stric” — to which the former Senate President responded.