In December 2012, she exposed that the Senate president, Juan Ponce Enrile, used Senate funds to give away as cash gifts. Every senator, except Defensor Santiago and two others, received ₱2 million as a chunk of the Filipino population lived in poverty. This led to the Priority Development Assistance Fund scandal, which put the Senate president behind bars with charges of plunder. Defensor Santiago's live Senate hearings in the case led to public outrage and support for Defensor Santiago's call to abolish the pork barrel system.