In late 2016, Lacson discovered and moved to take out some P8.3 billion in "pork-like" insertions made by the House of Representatives. Lacson noted House members were allowed to identify P80 million worth of projects before the submission of the 2017 National Expenditure Program to Congress for deliberations – the pork barrel system already declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. This prompted the Senate to realign P8.3 billion in the proposed 2017 national budget to cover tuition of students in state colleges and universities.