Manila: Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri has refuted claims that project lists from senators were processed through his office during his tenure as Senate president. This statement comes in response to former public works secretary Manuel Bonoan's assertion that senators received infrastructure allocations of up to PHP1 billion each under a 'leadership fund.'
According to Philippines News Agency, Bonoan is currently embroiled in legal troubles, facing plunder and graft charges related to alleged kickbacks from flood-control projects. The Sandiganbayan, an anti-graft court, has ordered his arrest concerning a PHP573 million plunder case but has allowed him to remain under hospital arrest.
Zubiri clarified in a statement, "For the record, as Senate president, I never requested, held, or handled any list of project requests from senators. I refused to handle any such list." He emphasized that no proposed budget amendments were managed by his office and that all requests were directed through the Senate Committee on Finance, which oversees the budget process.
During his term as Senate president from July 25, 2022, to May 20, 2024, Zubiri was elected with 20 votes at the start of the 19th Congress. He resigned nearly two years later, allowing Senator Francis 'Chiz' Escudero to assume leadership of the chamber.
The 'leadership fund' came under scrutiny after Bonoan admitted that the Department of Public Works and Highways accommodated lawmakers' requests during the preparation of the National Expenditure Program (NEP), the executive branch's proposed national budget. Bonoan argued that this involved consolidating project requests rather than congressional insertions.
Zubiri highlighted the difference between legitimate institutional amendments made during budget deliberations and the handling of individual project lists. He emphasized the importance of amendments funding critical infrastructure in underserved areas, provided they are requested and approved by the implementing agency without lawmakers interfering for personal gain.
He cited former Senate president Franklin Drilon's efforts to secure infrastructure funding for Iloilo as an example of how institutional amendments could facilitate development. Zubiri stated, "That is part of our responsibility as legislators: to help bring much-needed development to communities that have long been left behind."
Zubiri stressed that the core issue is not the introduction of budget amendments but ensuring that resultant projects are genuine, properly implemented, and free from corruption. "Again, I reiterate that there is nothing wrong with institutional amendments, for as long as projects are properly implemented, that they are neither ghost projects nor substandard projects, and that they are devoid of any influence from the proponent legislators that could lead to corruption," he concluded.
