Insertions Start in Crafting of Budget - Drilon

Former Senate president Franklin Drilon cautioned that the practice of "double insertion" in the national budget may still be happening, warning that the first round of political allocations could have already been made by the time the 2026 National Expenditure Program (NEP) was submitted to Congress last week.

- Neil Jayson Servallos, Mark Ernest Villeza, Ramon Efren Lazaro, Rainier Allan Ronda

Drilon explained that by the time the President's budget has been transmitted to Congress, the first layer of insertions may have already been introduced at the regional level. He pointed out that agencies such as the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) consolidate budget proposals from their district and regional offices before these are endorsed to Malacañang.

"From what the DPWH regional office submits, politicians already have (budget) insertions there, the pork barrel is inserted, so that when it reaches Malacañang, the pork barrel is already there," Drilon said in an interview yesterday over radio dzBB.

Drilon raised particular concern over the hundreds of billions allocated for flood control programs in the 2026 budget, a sector he noted has long been susceptible to questionable funding practices.

"Everybody knows that... when the budget reaches Congress, there will be more insertions," he stressed.

Drilon, a key figure in past budget debates, recalled that similar practices surfaced during controversies over the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) and other congressional insertions.

He said these precedents illustrate how pork barrel allocations can be embedded twice - first in the proposed NEP, then again when Congress deliberates and amends the General Appropriations Act (GAA).

Unreliable

Drilon also questioned whether congressional inquiries into alleged flood control anomalies would be credible in the eyes of the public.

"The problem there is the public will not believe the results of the investigation because it's just the same people... Even if their investigation is right, the credibility of the results will be doubted," Drilon said.

Instead, he suggested that accountability mechanisms should be left to independent constitutional bodies.