TO FORTIFY HIS run as Senate President in 2024, Francis Escudero doled out to allies P142.7-billion in insertions to the 2025 budget with the staggering allocation of P12.08 billion supposedly going to infrastructure projects of Bulacan.
A summary of insertions obtained by Politiko showed Escudero funneling billions into politically motivated allocation, raising serious concerns of transparency, duplication and backdoor dealmaking masquerading as development. Politiko was citing the study of New York-based think tank, GlobalSource Partners.
The biggest slice of the infrastructure insertion went to Bulacan, through term-limited Sen. Joel Villanueva at P12.08 billion, a close ally of Escudero who is rumored to reclaim the post of Senate Majority Leader should Escudero formally retain Senate leadership in the 20th Congress this July 28.
‘Without clear definitions, oversight of these funds becomes nearly impossible, opening the door for ghost projects or politically influenced implementation.’
SORSOGON BUDGET
Next came Sorsogon, Escudero’s hometown, with P9.1 billion. Other top recipients were: Mindoro – ₱8.37 billion; Batangas – ₱7.32 billion; Davao – ₱7.2 billion; Misamis Occidental – ₱6.5 billion; Quezon – ₱5.9 billion; Cavite – ₱5.6 billion; Valenzuela City – ₱4.251 billion and Cebu – ₱4 billion.
GlobalSource said the P6.3 trillion budget for 2025 had allocations for flood control and infrastructure projects that were riddled with red flags ranging from overlapping roadworks to questionable flood mitigation efforts.
GlobalSource said Escudero’s budgetary maneuvering came at the expense of core government priorities with allocations for social services and economic programs dropping by 33.4 percent and 29.2 percent, respectively from their budgets in 2024, “a steep price paid for pork.”
SIZABLE SHARE
Flood control projects had a sizable share of the insertions in the top 10 areas that received allocations from Escudero at P17 billion even as flooding remains a chronic problem in the Philippines, particularly during typhoons, the manner in which these projects were listed raised eyebrows.
Several flood control initiatives were listed as being for “nationwide” implementation, with allocations reaching ₱500 million per line item—yet no provinces, coordinates, or hazard maps were included to justify these figures.
For example, there was an item for the “Construction of Flood Mitigation Structures – Nationwide,” with a ₱500-million allocation.
INSERTION BY PROVINCE
For instance, in General Nakar, Quezon, Escudero inserted five flood control projects along the Agos River, each worth ₱150 million, and labeled them as “phases” despite seemingly referring to the same area and waterway. Collectively, these flood control phases amount to ₱750 million, raising suspicions of “budget layering”—a practice where the same or similar projects are listed in parts to bypass scrutiny and inflate allocations.
Even more concerning, the entries lack engineering detail, geographic coordinates, or references to previous feasibility studies. In some cases, they simply state: “Construction of flood mitigation structure along Agos River, General Nakar, Phase X.”
In Bulacan, Escudero’s second most favored province after his hometown Sorsogon, multiple line items reveal near-identical road projects repeated under slightly altered titles or segmented kilometer markings.
The Sta. Rita–Biak Na Bato Road in San Miguel, Bulacan was listed multiple times, under names such as Segment A, Segment B, Segment C, and Packages A through E. Each of these entries had a uniform cost of ₱100 million, adding up to ₱500 million for what essentially appears to be one road corridor.
Another road, the San Miguel–Sibul Road, also appeared four times—again split into “Package A” to “Package D”—with identical ₱100-million allocations. That’s ₱400 million for the same route.
These patterns suggest a deliberate attempt to slice projects into smaller chunks, each remaining under thresholds that typically trigger closer scrutiny by the Department of Budget and Management or the Commission on Audit.
Multiple entries for the same road sections or with overlapping kilometer markers (especially in Bulacan and Quezon) suggest possible duplication of funding or budget padding.
SOLAR STREETLIGHTS
Another red flag is the series of solar street lighting projects across Eastern Bulacan Road, General Alejo Santos Highway, Plaridel Access Road, and stretches of the Maharlika Highway. These were all marked at ₱100 million each, regardless of actual road length or vehicle/pedestrian traffic volume.
In San Miguel, Doña Remedios Trinidad, and San Rafael, multiple entries for solar street lights popped up with a striking similarity in language and cost. The repetition raises questions not just of redundancy, but of whether these projects are based on actual needs assessments or merely crafted to pad the province’s total budget share.
Without clear definitions, oversight of these funds becomes nearly impossible, opening the door for ghost projects or politically influenced implementation.
BONG GO INSERTIONS
While Escudero was responsible for the majority of the insertions, he also included several items that were labeled as being “on behalf of Senator Bong Go, totaling over P3 billion. Items under this category include the construction of barangay health stations as well as super health centers for a total of P633 million.
Over 50 barangay health stations, rural health units, and super health centers were funded at ₱3M–₱10 million each, while provinces like Batangas, Palawan, Laguna, and Camarines Sur received 3–5 health centers each.
There was a separate P83 million allotted for the completion or repair of rural health units, as well as a total of P400 million for hospitals run by the local government units and Department of Health.
Under the guise of healthcare improvements, ₱1.88 billion was allocated for motor vehicles, including ambulances and official cars for local governments and military units—far more than actual health infrastructure like hospitals and dialysis centers.
BUMAHA SA BULACAN
But even as P2.93 billion of insertions for Bulacan were intended for flood control projects, most parts of the province still suffer from destructive floods, as evidenced by the recent successive storms and Habagat for a few days now.
Aside from flood control projects, the balance of the P9.1 billion allocation for the province supposedly went to: road construction for ₱3.26 billion; bridges and buildings for ₱3.61 billion; and ₱2.28 billion for street lighting, water impounding, and pumping stations.
Several of the biggest items are concentrated in the towns of San Miguel and San Rafael, both of which appear repeatedly in the budget under different project names—many with identical scopes and ₱100-million price tags.
One major example is the Sta. Rita–Biak Na Bato Road in San Miguel, which appeared multiple times under different kilometer markers and labels like Segment A to C and Packages A to E. Each listing costs ₱100 million, bringing the total for what appears to be the same stretch of road to at least ₱500 million.
Another heavily funded project corridor is the San Miguel–Sibul Road, which showed up four times under different “packages.” With a ₱100-million allocation for each package, the total budget for this particular route amounted to ₱400 million.
Similar duplication appears in solar street lighting projects that were listed across various road names—including Maharlika Highway, Eastern Bulacan Road, General Alejo Santos Highway, and Plaridel Access Road—in the towns of San Miguel, Doña Remedios Trinidad, and San Rafael. Each project costs ₱100 million. Bulacan also got P3 million to purchase motor vehicles for healthcare under the title “on behalf of Senator Bong Go” for the Angat Super Health Center and P5 million for Angat and Paombong.
Bulacan’s windfall under the 2025 national budget is widely seen as a product of the close alliance between Senate President Francis Escudero and Senator Joel Villanueva—an alliance that reportedly deepened following Escudero’s ascent to the Senate presidency in May 2024.
A source told Politiko that the promise of generous insertions may have been a key factor in Villanueva’s decision to shift allegiance from then-Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri, whose removal paved the way for Escudero’s leadership.
With Villanueva term-limited and barred from seeking re-election in 2028, the grapevine is abuzz with talk that infrastructure bonanza in Bulacan could be part of a broader strategy to lay the groundwork for a gubernatorial run in his home province.
Politiko’s direct quote on Villanueva’s comment for the multibillion-peso bonanza for Bulacan thus: “Hope its true but our Bulacan district engineers say its not. Am sure DBM and DPWH would be the right agencies to answer these questions. I’ll raise it this coming budget hearings.”