LACSON: ‘CABRAL FILES’ SHOW 5 CABINET SECRETARIES WITH BILLIONS IN ALLOCABLES IN 2025 BUDGET

DOCUMENTS from the camp of the late Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Undersecretary Catalina Cabral and from the DPWH itself showed at least five Cabinet members and even some undersecretaries had allocables and/or non-allocables amounting to billions of pesos in the 2025 budget, Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” M. Lacson said Saturday.

Lacson said these include one “ES” who had P8.3 billion, and ex-PWH Secretary Manuel Bonoan, whose allocables for 2025 alone amounted to at least P30.5 billion.

“At least five Cabinet secretaries and some undersecretaries had allocables and/or non-allocables, according to the documents. I was surprised at one entry that said ‘ES, P8 billion.’ How did one ‘ES’ get allocables?” he said in English and Filipino in an interview on DWIZ.

“For Bonoan, I saw his allocables include P5 billion, plus three more batches totaling P25.5 billion, soP30.5 billion in all. That is his right to the allocables? Also, I saw the other Cabinet secretaries getting P2 billion each. Why?” he added.

There were also billions for the House leadership and party list groups, he added.

Lacson said it is uncertain at this time if the Cabinet members also had amounts from other departments in the 2025 budget.

He added that at least one Cabinet member aside from Bonoan benefited from kickbacks, as former DPWH Undersecretay Roberto Bernardo indicated he had delivered money to that Cabinet member.

“Aside from Bonoan, at least one more Cabinet member received kickbacks from Bernardo,” he said,adding that Cabinet member may be invited to the Blue Ribbon hearing once relevant documents are authenticated.

He said the Cabinet secretaries concerned may be invited to the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee’s probe into anomalous flood control projects once the relevant documents are authenticated, including Special Allotment Release Orders dated Dec. 27, 2024.

Documents received by Lacson from Cabral’s camp showed the SAROs involved the release of P50 billion in unprogrammed appropriations, of which P30 billion was for flood control projects, many of them were validated to be ghost projects.

Lacson noted that while former Undersecretary Cabral reached out to him shortly after she was implicated by former Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo in the Blue Ribbon Committee’s Nov. 14 hearing and expressed willingness to tell all but died earlier this month, they can have DBM officer-in-charge Rolando Toledo or the DPWH authenticate the documents.

Cabral had indicated she was to testify on the SAROs before she died, Lacson noted.

“The information I got is based on documents given to me by Cabral’s lawyer and from documents  I got

from the DPWH. We can have these documents authenticated,” he added.

“Why should Cabinet secretaries get allocables? I thought the allocables were for lawmakers to request projects for their districts, which to me is still unacceptable because the National Expenditure Program is the exclusive domain of the executive department,” he said.

Meanwhile, Lacson said Malacanang should avoid the perception of being selective -particularly on who to prosecute in connection with the case of anomalous infrastructure projects – especially in the wake of low trust ratings for President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

He said that while he sympathizes with the President, he stressed the administration must show it is not selective in fighting corruption.

Lacson noted at least two ambassadors who made courtesy calls to him recently had asked him pointblank about his views on corruption.

“One common question they had was about corruption. It is sad because previous courtesy calls focused on the West Philippine Sea and politics. But now it’s corruption – what can you say about corruption in your country. The questions were direct. It is a shame for our country,” he said.

“To be selective on who to prosecute, that is bad and that will not do the country any good,” he added.

“The investigation must continue. Jail those who should be jailed,” Lacson further said.