Senate deletes 'allocables', 'ayuda' in 2026 budget

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- ELLSON QUISMORIO

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Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo "Ping" Lacson has confirmed over the weekend that the upper chamber has removed the so-called "allocables"—despite some pushback—in the proposed ₱6.793-trillion General Appropriations Bill (GAB) for 2026.

Dubbed as the “new pork barrel”— these allocables have become the most contentious part of the ongoing budget discussions in the Senate.

Lacson said these amounts were removed from the GAB despite "resistance" from some of his senatorcolleagues.

Lacson, a vocal critic of discretionary funds and corruption, had earlier described allocables as the new pork barrel because they allow funding for projects before they are even identified.

He said this opens the door for other abuses such as rigged bidding for contracts benefiting favored players.

The Cavite-based lawmaker said the Senate has also removed "ayuda" and other items involving political patronage from the items to be funded by unprogrammed appropriations.

He also disclosed that the Senate majority bloc, while tackling the budget measure, received information that some lawmakers, including senators, are insisting on their "individual amendments" to the bill.

But he said this was settled after the senators approved the budget bill-without the allocables-on second reading last Dec. 4. The bill is set for third-reading approval this coming week.

"We are already in reform mode, then this still happens-some suggesting that if the House will have allocables, so should the Senate. It's very bad," he said in Filipino.