Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 4) — House Majority Leader Fredenil Castro confirmed that there is a proposal to allot congressmen ₱160 million each for projects in their districts.

"There is a suggestion that each and every congressman be allocated ₱160 million," Castro told CNN Philippines' The Source on Monday. "Assuming further that congressmen approve this proposal, it's not pork - because everything is itemized, everything is accounted for."

House Majority Leader Fredenil Castro: There is a suggestion that each congressman be allocated ₱160M | #TheSource https://t.co/sDo55hwVGt pic.twitter.com/38cBTW7eiE — CNN Philippines (@cnnphilippines) February 4, 2019

However, Castro said congressmen do not yet have the proposed funding as it still needs to be approved by the bicameral conference committee reconciling differences in the budget bill passed by the House and the Senate.

He added that the final amount could be lower or higher than ₱160 million, depending on the "agreement" of lawmakers in the bicameral conference committee.

Senator Panfilo Lacson tweeted Thursday that each congressman got ₱160 million while "a few others" got billions more and some senators received ₱23 billion from the budget of the Public Works department alone.

160M pork for each congressman, and billions more for a few others plus 23B for some senators on the DPWH budget alone is too much and unacceptable. I may be outvoted eventually but I’m willing to go down fighting, confident that some like-minded colleagues will do the same. — PING LACSON (@iampinglacson) January 31, 2019

Following this, Castro lodged his own accusations against Lacson, saying that the "self-proclaimed anti-pork barrel crusader" introduced amendments to the proposed 2019 budget totalling ₱50 billion.

READ: Frustrated Sotto calls for withdrawal of Senate budget bill

Castro said Lacson made the amendments to provide additional funding for the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police, but did not exactly detail where the funds would go.

Speaking to The Source, Castro said this "violate[s] transparency and accountability in our General Appropriations Act" as the additional funds were supposedly not itemized.

House Majority Leader Fredenil Castro: I'm not sure if Lacson submission will pass test of transparency | #TheSource https://t.co/sDo55hwVGt pic.twitter.com/GSV8RY0PNm — CNN Philippines (@cnnphilippines) February 4, 2019

However, Lacson clarified to CNN Philippines in a text message that his amendments only totalled around ₱30.5 billion, nearly ₱4 billion of which were amendments made by the Senate Finance Subcommittee E, and nearly ₱27 billion of which were amendments made during the second reading of the budget bill.

Lacson said these amendments were all official submissions to Senate Finance committee chair Loren Legarda. "All in writing. Walang ibinulong, walang isinulat sa napkin. [Not through whispers, not through notes on napkins,]" he said.

The senator also dared Castro and other lawmakers to make public their amendments to the budget.

Congress to pass budget

The bicameral conference committee only has two days left to complete deliberations on the 2019 budget before Congress goes on break for the midterm elections in May.

After it reconciles the differences between the House and Senate versions of the budget bill, both chambers of Congress would have to ratify the bicameral conference committee report before it is sent to President Rodrigo Duterte for his signature.

Castro believes there is a good chance the legislature would pass the budget before the break. But even if Congress could not pass the budget bill on time, it can still hold special sessions for it to be tackled and ratified.

"But the problem is the quorum. The problem is the attendance considering that it's already campaign period," Castro said.

House Majority Leader Fredenil Castro: 70% chance of passing budget by Wednesday | #TheSource https://t.co/sDo55hwVGt pic.twitter.com/dgIODNhuVf — CNN Philippines (@cnnphilippines) February 4, 2019

However, he suspects that congressmen would be more than willing to attend special sessions as a reenacted budget would prevent them from implementing projects for their constituents.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has warned that if Congress still fails to pass the budget in time for the polls, teachers who would serve as electoral board members may not get paid and some election paraphernalia — like indelible ink — may not be procured.

While Legarda has vowed there would be enough funding for the elections even if there is no new budget for 2019, the Comelec said it would prefer that it be allocated a fresh budget for the elections instead of sourcing it from savings and the contingency fund.

Congress failed to pass this year's budget before 2018 ended due to delays in the House over allegations of "insertions" in the budget bill, which government agencies are apparently clueless about.

CNN Philippines Senior Anchor and Correspondent Pinky Webb contributed to this report.