Solon exposes ‘parking, sagasa’ scheme in budget insertions

MANILA – A fresh twist in the probe on alleged anomalous flood-control projects emerged Monday as Navotas City’s Cong. Toby Tiangco bared that some House members have been “parking” and even “forcing through” their budget insertions in congressional districts not their own.

Speaking at the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee’s inquiry, Tiangco revealed that the practice is so entrenched in Congress it already has its own jargon.
“Dalawang term po yan kung matatandaan ninyo — parking at sagasa,” he explained. “‘Yung parking nakiusap ka sa district congressman, pumayag ang district congressman. Yung sagasa, wala kang magagawa sa ayaw mo at gusto.”

The veteran lawmaker said his scrutiny of the 2025 budget led him to P13.8 billion worth of projects linked to Rep. Zaldy Co, then chair of the powerful House Appropriations Committee.
“Ang sabi ng ilang congressmen, hindi kanila ‘yan. Normally, kung ‘yan ang ni-request ko, dapat ako ang proponent at congressional district. Kapag magkaiba, magtataka kayo kung bakit,” Tiangco told the panel.

Ironically, Tiangco himself has been accused of pushing for a P529-million flood-control project, a charge he flatly denied.

The allegation stemmed from a press release issued by Rep. Alfredo Garbin.
“First of all, hindi po ako makakapag-insert kasi hindi po ako member ng bicam. Paano ako makakapag-insert?” he said.

The Senate inquiry is zeroing in on questionable infrastructure allocations, particularly flood-control projects suspected of being padded into the 2025 spending plan./PN