Manila, Oct. 28 -- Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson on Tuesday questioned the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) for maintaining what he described as a "leadership fund" that allowed lawmakers to influence infrastructure allocations even before the national budget reached Congress.

In an interview with DZBB, Lacson recalled former DPWH Secretary Manuel Bonoan admitting that the department consolidated requests from legislators into the National Expenditure Program (NEP) - effectively giving lawmakers access to the budgeting process before the authorization stage.

"Ang budget preparation ay trabaho ng executive branch, pero bakit nakikialam na agad ang ilang mambabatas bago pa ito maipadala sa Kongreso (Budget prep...