Senator Sherwin Gatchalian has expressed serious doubts about Zaldy Co’s explosive claim that President Marcos ordered ₱100 billion in budget insertions during the bicameral conference. According to Gatchalian, Co’s story “doesn’t add up.”
Gatchalian pointed out a few key inconsistencies:
- The National Expenditure Program (NEP) — which is effectively the President’s proposed budget — is drafted by the Executive long before Congress deliberates.
- In Co’s list of alleged insertions, many are small community roads. Gatchalian questioned why, if these were presidential‑ordered, they’d be secondary roads and not bigger projects like superhighways.
- He also noted that Co claimed Marcos and Romualdez ordered billions, yet some of those same projects were vetoed earlier — which seems illogical if they were “promised” for insertion.
To improve transparency, Gatchalian highlighted the Senate Budget Transparency Portal, which allows public access to deliberations, amendments, and spending flows.