Malacañang on Aug. 18 denied that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ever discussed a so-called "leadership fund" with former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) secretary Manuel Bonoan, even as a sitting senator publicly acknowledged that lawmakers routinely seek discretionary project funding through informal channels — a practice he said should no longer be conducted in secret.
The dueling statements, reported Aug. 19 by the Philippine Canadian Inquirer and other outlets, came a week after Bonoan told the Sandiganbayan that every senator received at least ₱500 million — and committee chairs up to ₱1 billion — from a DPWH-administered fund that channeled roughly ₱21 billion in fiscal year 2025 alone, according to Pulpulitiko's earlier reporting on his testimony.
Palace: funds go to projects, not people
Palace Press Officer Claire Castro told reporters Marcos had only instructed Bonoan to distribute infrastructure projects "based on the needs of an area," not to set aside allocations tied to individual lawmakers. "The funds are given to projects, not to people," Castro said, adding that the leadership fund "was never mentioned by the President and it has been denied by the economic team." She said the arrangement does not appear anywhere in the General Appropriations Act and that any related discussions would have occurred internally within the DPWH, without the President's knowledge or involvement.
Castro said Marcos would not order a separate internal investigation into the fund because the matter is already before the Sandiganbayan, and she said current DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon has confirmed no leadership fund exists in the proposed 2027 national budget. "All projects proposed in the 2027 DPWH budget are based on needs of the local and regional governments," she said, citing a DPWH message, adding that project submissions require complete documentation to meet Department of Budget and Management guidelines.
Senator: "Let's admit it"
Senate finance committee chairman JV Ejercito did not deny the underlying practice when asked in a radio interview with dzBB. "Let's admit it. People approach us for concerns. But it should not be kept a secret," he said. Ejercito cited a request from Cebu to fund neglected provincial hospitals as an example of how such allocations arise, saying that when he successfully pushes for funding, it becomes associated with his office. "There are good and bad amendments I would say. But they're not all bad. As long as you do it in an open plenary," he said.
Ejercito vowed the 2027 national budget process would carry stricter transparency measures, with legislative amendments debated openly rather than negotiated behind closed doors. He recalled past cases in which a district's infrastructure allocation of ₱2 billion ballooned to as much as ₱18 billion following closed-door bicameral conference committee negotiations. "Last-minute insertions in the bicam is where it balloons," he said. "This time, we will not allow that. We will flag that." He said 2027 budget deliberations would be fully televised and open to observation by civil society groups.
Context: reforms after the flood-control scandal
The controversy follows changes introduced last year by then-finance committee chair, now Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian, who moved to eliminate the so-called "small committee" — a secretive subset of lawmakers historically involved in bicam negotiations that critics have called a "smoke-filled room" for horse-trading public funds. Several senators named in Bonoan's testimony have denied the allegations outright, a sharper position than Ejercito's acknowledgment that informal project requests occur. Ejercito also linked the episode to broader budget pressures, noting the government is preparing to borrow roughly ₱1.2 trillion to help finance the proposed ₱7.2-trillion 2027 budget, and warned that stricter post-scandal safeguards have slowed disbursements at a time the economy needs faster public spending.
As of this report, no senator named in Bonoan's testimony beyond Ejercito has publicly detailed how project-linked allocations were negotiated, and the Sandiganbayan proceedings where the allegations surfaced remain ongoing.
Sources:
- Palace denies Marcos discussed 'leadership fund' with Bonoan as senator defends practice — Philippine Canadian Inquirer, Aug. 19, 2026
- Marcos has no knowledge of senators' alleged 'leadership fund' — Palace — GMA News Online, Aug. 13, 2026
- Palace: Marcos unaware of DPWH leadership fund — The Manila Times, Aug. 18, 2026
