Sen. Jinggoy Estrada maintained that he had no insertions or amendments to the 2025 national budget “related to the DPWH budget” as claimed by former public works secretary Manuel Bonoan.
In a statement released by his office, Estrada said he has taken note of Bonoan’s testimony before the Sandiganbayan on claims that more than P7 billion in congressional initiatives were inserted in the 2025 national budget.
“Senator Estrada has been consistent in refuting such claims, and the official records of the Senate, particularly those of the Legislative Budget Research and Monitoring Office (LBRMO), will attest to this. The LBRMO, in a letter submitted to the Ombudsman last March, said that ‘there are no legislative records or official documents indicating any official insertions or amendments made by a senator, specifically Senator Jinggoy Estrada, in the 2025 (national budget) related to the DPWH’,” Estrada’s office said.
It also said that even Sen. Panfilo Lacson, known to be a vanguard of the national budget, echoed the LBRMO’s findings when he delivered a privilege speech.
“The General Appropriations Act is not the work of any single lawmaker. It is the product of both Houses of Congress, approved by the President — all in accordance with the constitutional process,” Estrada’s office also said.