Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson on Thursday questioned the practice of inserting projects into congressional districts where lawmakers had not requested funding, calling it illogical and suspicious.
During a Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing, Lacson pressed Navotas City Rep. Toby Tiangco on how projects appeared in certain districts without the knowledge of their elected officials.
Lacson illustrated the issue with a hypothetical scenario, where a congressman from one district would insert projects into another district.
Tiangco clarified that lawmakers sometimes had no knowledge of the allocations, which he described as “sagasa” (runover), meaning funds were imposed on their districts without consultation.
He cited examples in Abra and Occidental Mindoro where billions of pesos in projects appeared under lawmakers’ names despite their insistence they had not requested them.
“It’s not logical for a congressman not to request a project and then suddenly be given funds,” the representative said.
According to Tiangco, the total amount from such questionable allocations reached about P13.8 billion.
He pointed out that some legislators only learned of the added projects when the General Appropriations Act was released, often after budgets had already been finalized.
Tiangco also shared that he had long heard of project allocations being tied to a 20 percent cut, though he had no proof until recent testimony by former Bulacan district engineer Henry Alcantara.
The solon described the practice as an “open secret,” where insertions were expected to carry financial obligations in exchange for funding.
Senator Erwin Tulfo asked engineer Brice Hernandez to confirm whether “sagasa” referred to projects being dropped into districts without notice, which Hernandez affirmed.
Tulfo also raised the issue of “parking,” a practice where funds are routed through a district with prior consent from its lawmaker.
Hernandez confirmed that “parking” involved coordination, unlike “sagasa,” which bypassed the district’s representative entirely.
