MANILA - Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's district in Pampanga was "deprived" of funds in the previous administration and the former president wanted to do something for her constituents in her last term, an ally said Monday in explaining the allocations in next year's budget.

Speaking to ANC's Headstart, Minority Leader Danilo Suarez denied the House leadership is trying to deflect attention away from the issue following Sen. Panfilo Lacson's revelation that a congresswoman had received P2.4 billion in congressional insertions.

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"Di naman ganun kalaki if you compare to the district distribution of government projects, maliit yun compared to the other members of the House and the senators as well," he said.

"Deprived naman yung tao. Siguro naghahabol siya. This is her last term. Gusto niyang maraming magawa sa lugar niya," he said.

Without identifying Arroyo, Lacson revealed that a lawmaker started with P726,710,000 for “projects as approved on second reading” but wrapped up with a total amount of projects of P2,424,819,000.

These projects included municipalities of Lubao, Guagua, and Porac which are all located in the second district of Pampanga, where Arroyo is the representative.

House Majority Leader Rolando Andaya Jr. earlier admitted that Arroyo promised the allotment of P60 million for each lawmaker but claimed the funds were not pork, which was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in a landmark ruling in 2013.

He blamed members of the House Appropriations Committee for the P4.3 billion alleged "pork barrel", saying the lawmakers may have displayed "misplaced generosity" when it granted the requests of public works regional directors for funding for flood control projects in Pampanga and road projects in Camarines Sur.

For his part, Lacson said the beneficiaries should return the amounts if the appropriations committee disobeyed orders from the House leadership.

He noted that even Public Works Secretary Mark Villar did not know about the budget realignments before the DPWH budget was slashed.

"Sabi ko, nakonsulta ba kayo rito? Hindi siya makasagot. Sabi niya lang pakitanong sa congressmen kasi hindi ko alam yan," Lacson recalled.

DIOKNO COULD BE LIABLE FOR GRAFT

Meanwhile, Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno could be sued for violating the anti-graft law for allegedly favoring his in-laws by allocating funds to projects that will benefit them, Suarez said.

Diokno was grilled on alleged "insertions" of about P75 billion to the budget of the Department of Public Works and Highways when he attended the question hour at the House of Representatives.

The lawmakers alleged Diokno's in-laws bagged infrastructure projects worth more than half a billion pesos. While Diokno confirmed that the parents-in-law of his daughter are politicians in Sorsogon, he said they do not talk about their jobs when they meet.

"Yung kalaban ng mayor ng Casiguran at Sorsogon, can sue him (Diokno) for favoring their political opponents using his position as budget secretary by giving those billions of projects to these candidates," he said.

"That will benefit these 2 candidates because they were the in-laws of his daughter. There may have an issue on anti-graft there," he added.

Suarez said it is a puzzle why of all the municipalities and cities in the country, Sorsogon and Casiguran, both in the Bicol region, were given projects worth P5 billion.

Diokno has repeatedly denied favoring his in-laws, maintaining that it was a "legitimate adjustment" meant to bring infrastructure spending to near 5 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP).