ACT Teachers Representative and Deputy Minority Leader Antonio Tinio on Thursday rebuked Malacañang’s claim that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. had no knowledge of the alleged ₱24-billion “leadership fund” embedded in the 2025 Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) budget, calling the denial “utterly unbelievable” and a “grave insult to the intelligence of the Filipino people.”
“The President prepared and signed the 2025 national budget. That ‘leadership fund’ did not materialize out of thin air—it went through the entire budget process under his watch and was enacted with his approval. To now claim he was unaware is an insult,” Tinio said.
He stressed that the controversial allocation had already been integrated into the so-called BBM parametric formula prior to 2025, and was among the grounds cited in the impeachment complaint filed against Marcos earlier this year.
Palace press officer Claire Castro maintained that the President would not have permitted such a scheme had he known, noting that such discussions are “usually done in secret.”
Tinio countered that former DPWH Secretary Manuel Bonoan—who testified before the Sandiganbayan that senators in 2024 availed themselves of at least ₱500 million each in leadership funds—was Marcos’ alter ego.
“Bonoan was appointed by Marcos and served as his Cabinet official. It defies all logic and reason to believe that a ₱24-billion discretionary fund would be operationalized under the DPWH without the knowledge of the Secretary’s appointing authority. An alter ego acts on behalf of the principal. The President cannot simply wash his hands of his alter ego’s doing,” he said.
“Sa ganitong mga sitwasyon kaya binigyan ang Presidente ng veto power bilang check laban sa abuso. Kaya hindi pwede sabihing hindi niya alam ang so-called ‘leadership fund’ at hindi ito katanggap-tanggap dahil tungkulin ng presidente ang alamin,” Tinio added, saying Castro’s remarks implied either presidential incompetence or complicity.
“The President signed this budget. His alter ego implemented it. No amount of hand-washing by Malacañang can erase that fact. Accountability must be shouldered by those who allowed this monumental betrayal of public trust to happen, and the people should know where the leadership fund went,” Tinio concluded. # (ROSE NOVENARIO)
