Funding for medical program, farm-to-market roads flagged
The Senate is prepared to “fight to the very end” to ensure that the 2026 budget is free of pork-barrel-type provisions, Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson said yesterday.
In particular, Lacson and Senator Erwin Tulfo jointly flagged sharp funding hikes for the Medical Assistance to Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients (MAIFIP) program as well as for constructing farm-to-market roads.
He asserted that he would refuse to sign the bicameral conference committee report on the 2026 budget unless provisions increasing allocations for Medical Assistance to Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients and certain infrastructure projects are corrected.
“Sorry… I cannot sign to ratify a bicam report with P51 billion for MAIFIP, with nothing but guarantee letters from politicians, and it is not compliant with the Universal Health Care Act. Further, I will not associate myself with the P33-billion spending for unplanned and unvetted farm-to-market roads,” said Lacson, who also chairs the Blue Ribbon committee.
During initial bicameral deliberations, lawmakers raised the MAIFIP allocation to P51 billion for 2026, exceeding both the House proposal of P49 billion and the Senate version of P29 billion, and is significantly higher than the P42 billion approved in 2025.
“All health-related funds must be subsumed under the Universal Health Care program of the Department of Health. Guarantee letters from politicians will only guarantee patronage politics but not the health care needs of Filipinos, especially the indigents,” he reminded.
As this developed, Kalookan Archbishop Pablo Virgilio Cardinal David warned lawmakers that patronage-based health and social assistance programs, such as MAIFIP, undermine human dignity and weaken constitutional governance.
The prelate criticized what he called “soft pork” in health and social services, saying aid tied to political intervention degrades the poor and erodes public institutions, noting that access to aid often depends on guarantee letters issued by legislators.
During Sunday’s bicameral conference committee deliberations, Lacson emphasized that the chamber’s position is anchored on protecting public funds and preventing the reemergence of abusive practices that allow last-minute insertions and discretionary allocations to creep into the budget.
“It must be pork-free. It is unacceptable that despite so many people being charged, some still insist on engaging in wrongdoing and profiting from public funds, a level of greed that cuts to the bone,” the lawmaker said.
Tulfo echoed the concern by questioning whether the massive increase for farm-to-market roads could invite the same problems that have long plagued flood control spending, particularly in the absence of clear safety and oversight mechanisms.
“The Filipino people who are watching us right now cannot help but think that there might be problems with this. That the issues in flood control will only transfer to farm-to-market roads,” said Tulfo.
“When public assistance is delivered through patronage, through discretionary lump sums, lists controlled by politicians, and post-enactment intervention, it transforms rights into favors and citizens into supplicants,” David said.
He urged lawmakers to ensure that medical assistance is provided through rules-based systems such as government hospitals and PhilHealth, without political mediation.
“The poor do not need benefactors, they need justice,” David stressed.
The bicameral panel discussed the P33 billion for farm-to-market roads, an amount higher than the House allocation and more than double the P16 billion originally proposed in the National Expenditure Program.
Senator Pia Cayetano argued that when unreleased funds from 2025 are tallied, the total spending for farm-to-market roads in 2026 could reach as high as P43 billion, nearly triple historical levels.
Questions were also raised about the absence of a finalized master plan, with lawmakers warning that spending without a clear roadmap could undermine transparency and effectiveness.
House appropriations officials maintained that a comprehensive plan exists but acknowledged gaps in coverage, particularly in geographically isolated areas.
“FMRs are needed but must not be distributed according to Congressional Districts, but must be distributed or implemented according to the needs of the area, based on population, land area, and others, and not through politically divided districts,” Senator Loren Legarda suggested.
Meanwhile, Lacson clarified that compromise is inherent in bicameral conference committee deliberations, but stressed that the integrity of the spending bill must remain non-negotiable.
“The bicam could be a matter of give-and-take, but we must ensure the integrity of the budget and not allow self-interest. The interest of constituents is important, but not the interest of kickbacks in infrastructure projects,” he said in a radio interview.
Lacson pointed out that the Senate’s version of the 2026 budget already contains several key reforms aimed at eliminating mechanisms that resemble pork barrel as well as those that weaken accountability in the allocation of public funds.
Among these reforms is the removal of so-called “allocables,” which Lacson described as a new form of pork barrel that allows funding for unspecified projects and opens the door to bidding irregularities favoring select contractors.
Live streaming budget deliberations from committee hearings through bicameral meetings, the veteran lawmaker added, has also strengthened transparency by making lawmakers accountable for amendments they introduce.
The Blue Ribbon panel chairman also urged the media and public to remain vigilant to prevent manipulations in the 2026 budget bill as bicameral conference committee proceedings are livestreamed for the first time.
Five senators missed the second day of the bicameral conference committee meeting on the proposed P6.793-trillion national budget for 2026.
The absent senators were JV Ejercito, Camille and Mark Villar, Ronald dela Rosa, and Bong Go. With Vito Barcelo
Editor’s Note: This is an updated article. Originally posted with the headline: “Senate pledges ‘pork-free’ 2026 national budget”
