A senior lawmaker’s testimony has cleared Oriental Mindoro Representative Arnan Panaligan of allegations that he inserted flood control projects into the national budget, confirming that first-term district congressmen lack the authority to make such insertions.

During a Blue Ribbon Senate hearing yesterday presided by Senator Rodante Marcoleta, Navotas City Representative Toby Tiangco testified that district representatives like Panaligan “cannot do that” when it comes to major budget insertions.

“I was surprised, I said, with in fairness to the district congressmen, Your Honor, they cannot do that. A regular congressman cannot do that. They are not members of the Committee on Appropriations. They are first-term congressmen. So they cannot add that much,” Tiangco said.

Tiangco explained that budget insertions occur at two levels – in small committees under the Second Reading Act and in the Bicameral Conference Committee (BICAM) – mechanisms to which regular district representatives have no access.

He noted that the National Expenditure Program (NEP) allocations for both Oriental and Occidental Mindoro “did not exceed P2.5 billion,” defending that district congressmen from these areas lack the institutional power to make such insertions.

Tiangco mentioned Ako Bicol Partylist Rep. Zaldy Co as the one who orchestrated the insertion of billions of pesos for flood control budget.

The testimony supports Panaligan’s consistent denial of involvement in budget insertions for Oriental Mindoro’s flood control projects, which became controversial after Senator Panfilo Lacson flagged irregularities in his district.

“The congressman has no say in coming up with the program of works, in designing and awarding (of the projects),” Panaligan said in a previous interview. “We have no role in listing those projects. The real system is that the NEP arrives at Congress with flood control projects already listed for which location and what amount.”

Panaligan, who previously served as Calapan mayor and Oriental Mindoro governor, has maintained that flood control projects were implemented solely by the Department of Public Works and Highways without his involvement in technical aspects.

Town mayors in Oriental Mindoro and religious leaders have vouched for Panaligan after he was implicated in the controversy over questionable flood control projects.