MANILA, Philippines -- Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago has uncovered a ?secret pork barrel? in the 2008 budget amounting to P11.5 billion from one department alone, which she alleged could be used by legislators in the 2010 elections.

Santiago said the amount, ?secretly inserted? in this year?s budget of the Department of Public Works and Highways, was ?unusually large? as it represented 12 percent of the estimated P95 billion budget of the Department of Public Works and Highways.

?That amount is unusually large. Normally, insertions are smaller in percentage than 12 percent. That?s my first point. Why so big?? she told reporters before the session on Tuesday.

?Second, these projects have very low economic return that is to say, they don?t really benefit everybody in the community or significantly contribute to the war against poverty or against hunger,? she said.

The most glaring low-priority, Santiago said, was the construction of so-called multipurpose buildings amounting to a total of P131.1 million.

The senator also noted that certain projects initiated by congressmen and senators like public markets should have been done better by local governments or government-owned corporations.

?There is even a lump-sum appropriation of P165 million for other buildings. These are projects that have not even been identified yet. Since it is a lump sum, it is most likely subject to abuse,? she said in a separate statement.

Santiago suspects that this secret pork barrel will only be used by legislators for the 2010 polls.

?The life of an appropriation is two years. In 2009, President [Gloria Macapagal] Arroyo may release these P11.5 billion insertions. By 2010, each project may continue to be implemented,? she said.

?Hence, I strongly suspect that most of these secret projects are going to be used by incumbent legislators for the 2010 elections,? she pointed out.