‘No midnight deals’: Sotto thumbs down pork accusations

MANILA, Philippines — Senate President Tito Sotto slammed claims that the Senate had inserted pork into the 2026 national budget, saying that the records were all there to prove that they did not. 

ACT Teachers party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio accused the Senate of reallocating funds meant for government employee benefits into the Allocations to Local Government Units, a move he called "discretionary pork barrel funds”. 

In a virtual presser on Friday, December 19, Sotto did not address Tinio by name, addressing critics of the bill broadly. 

Sotto said it was “impossible” for the Senate to have pork, and most critics who use the term do not really understand what it means.  

“Alam mo, ang pork barrel, yung may linagay ka, tapos pwede mo galawin, Makakakuha ka ng kickback,” Sotto said. 

(You know, pork barrel, you put something in, you can touch it. You can get a kickback.) 

Sotto said that on top of the livestreamed hearings, people should also read the provisions that lawmakers put to access the funds. Putting an allotment in a certain agency or project does not mean they have easy access to it, they have to meet the requirements. 

Sotto hailed the 2026 budget that the bicam came up with, calling it a hallmark of transparency that should be the new norm. 

“There were no midnight deals, there were no last-minute insertions, no insertions whatsoever were allowed,” Sotto said. 

The first-ever livestreamed bicam did not come without any hiccups. Lawmakers reached a deadlock over the Department of Public Works and Highway, which stalled bicam talks. 

Sotto said that a livestreamed bicam discouraged agencies from making last-minute requests to change their budgets, which had been the norm prior to the livestreaming. 

Officials had gotten used to using the bicam to increase their budgets, Sotto said. They would directly approach bicam representatives to plead their case. 

Despite the delayed bicam proceedings putting the 2026 budget at risk of being signed late, Sotto retained that they will make sure that everything has been properly vetted. Senators must be given enough time to read the enrolled copy and ratify it on December 29. 

Sotto maintained that the budget will be signed soon, as Malacañang has likely already been monitoring the budget proceedings of Congress. 

Lawmakers and other government officials are scrambling to win back public trust following the massive corruption scandal that rocked the administration, with billions of pesos lost in infrastructure kickback schemes.