(UPDATE) SEN. Panfilo Lacson named an official of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) as the one who called up a senator’s staff to request insertions in the proposed national budget for 2026.

Lacson on Sunday said an “Undersecretary Cabral” from DPWH phoned a staff member of Senate Minority Leader Vicente Sotto III shortly after the May elections.

Lacson: DPWH exec sought ‘insertions’

“Undersecretary Cabral” told Sotto’s staff “to insert what they wanted to insert [in the National Expenditure Program (NEP) for 2026],” Lacson said in a radio interview.

“If Senator Sotto was one of those called by that executive, who else could have been contacted similarly and submitted their proposed insertions?” he said in Filipino.

“Senator Sotto told me he did not submit anything because we are advocating transparency and good governance. The question now is, how many members of the House and Senate made insertions?” Lacson said.

The DPWH website lists Maria Catalina Cabral as undersecretary for Planning, Public-Private Partnership, and Information Management Services.

Lacson assured President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. he is determined to expose profiteers, including those behind anomalous flood control projects.

“We feel you, Mr. President,” Lacson wrote on X on Sunday. “You have given me and my team the firm resolve to do our part in exposing, even compiling solid evidence to nail these ‘greedy flood-control profiteers’ and their cohorts both in the public and private sectors. We have your back, Sir.”

In a teaser video for his podcast Saturday night, the President appeared teary-eyed because he was “very upset” about Filipinos who are having a hard time while the greedy ones profit.

He said ordinary Filipinos work very hard for their families, yet suffer.

Senate President Francis Escudero wants to realign the proposed P250.8-billion flood control budget for 2026 to health, education and food production.

The amount was part of the P881.3 billion proposed spending plan of the DPWH for next year.

Escudero said the proposed funding for flood control projects accounts for one-third of the entire DPWH project and is 20 times bigger than the amount earmarked for the construction of new school buildings, which was P13 billion.

“If we let this stand as it is, this budget will be deluged with criticism,” he said in a statement.

The DPWH sought P108 billion for “asset preservation,” P182.5 billion for “network development,” P52 billion for “bridges,” P15.4 billion for “local programs,” and P167.8 billion for “convergence and special support.”

Escudero said the Department of Budget and Management should “recast the DPWH budget and shrink the flood control funds to the required minimum for places where people are really in harm’s way when the rains come.”

Meanwhile, Sen. Erwin Tulfo on Sunday questioned why, under the law, one must be a contractor to become a member of the Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board (PCAB).

Tulfo said he will file a resolution on Monday to review the Contractors’ License Law (Republic Act 4566), which created the PCAB.

He questioned the rationale for the requirement in RA 4566 that one must be a contractor to become a PCAB member, and that only contractors can sit on its board., This news data comes from:http://www.gyglfs.com

“How can they monitor, oversee, and regulate construction projects in the country, whether these are done properly, are not substandard, or are not ghost projects — if they themselves are also contractors? Clearly, there is a conflict of interest here,” he said.

Tulfo said it is time to reform or abolish the PCAB law, because instead of protecting the public from corruption, it has “become a gateway for it.”

Lacson: DPWH exec sought ‘insertions’

The inquiry will determine if RA 4566 should be revised, particularly the requirement that only contractors can join the PCAB board, or whether the licensing agency should be abolished altogether.

“I cannot imagine how such a law was passed when some of its provisions are clearly self-serving, especially the qualifications for becoming part of the Board of Directors,” Tulfo said.