Lacson warns vs ‘cover-up’ as Palace calls Cabinet budget insertion claims ‘hearsay’

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December 26, 2025 | 3:36pm

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Ping Lacson said Malacañang shouldn’t be quick to brand allegations that budget insertions were made by Cabinet officials as “hearsay.” 

In a statement on Friday, December 26, Lacson argued that “significant evidence had been unearthed” from the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee’s flood control investigation. 

Instead of outright dismissing the claims and probative value of existing testimonies and documents, he said a genuine inter-agency probe should be conducted to ferret out the truth.  

“[T]o prematurely dismiss the probable involvement of some members of the Cabinet as ‘hearsay’ may be interpreted as a euphemism for ‘cover-up,’” Lacson said.

This comes after Palace press officer Claire Castro said she would not recognize the documents Rep. Leandro Leviste (Batangas, 1st District) claims to have on the alleged budget insertions, which include Cabinet members.

When former Public Works Undesercretary Maria Catalina Cabral died, Leviste said she actually gave him a copy of the documents containing the proponents of budget insertions and allocables. 

Castro clarified on Friday that the “Cabral files” she was referring to were those that have not been verified by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) itself. 

“We are only talking about the unverified ‘Leviste list,’” she told reporters in a message. 

Multiple DPWH officials have implicated public officials from Congress and the executive branch. Some of them include former Public Works Secretary Manuel Bonoan, who had served the first half of the Marcos Jr. administration.

“Testimonies, supported by official documents in the budget books like lists of items that corroborate the testimonies of resource persons whose involvement in the plunder of public funds have been clearly established through their admission against interest and under oath at that,” Lacson said.

While resigned Rep. Elizaldy Co did not present his allegations in testimony during any of the hearings or in a sworn affidavit, he accused former executive secretary Lucas Bersamin and Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman of playing a role in manipulating the budget.

Lacson stressed that the government should take into consideration these claims to avoid “fueling public indignation” over the unresolved corruption scandal behind the anomalous infrastructure projects. 

“In the final analysis, we cannot blame the public, led by the Catholic Church, other religious sectors and civil groups for their unrelenting display of anger and distrust in government,” he said. 

Meanwhile, Castro contended that the government is already directing an inter-agency investigation that include the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) to gather enough evidence to prosecute involved officials. 

She also defended President Bongbong Marcos, saying he was serious when he said all will be held accountable, even if it means prosecuting his own relatives like Rep. Martin Romualdez. 

“It is not acceptable to insinuate that the Palace is ‘covering-up’ for somone,” she added. 

The Office of the Ombudsman had recently taken custody of Cabral's computer and files after it subpoenaed them. 

Cabral's phone, however, remains under her family's custody despite the ongoing probe into the circumstances of her death.