Everything secret is reprehensible and censurable
Em julho de 2022, uma admissão do senador Marcos do Val ao jornal Estadão revelou uma tensão antiga entre princípios declarados e práticas reais no Senado brasileiro: ele havia recebido cinquenta milhões de reais em emendas secretas como recompensa por apoiar a eleição de Rodrigo Pacheco à presidência da Casa. A confissão forçou o Podemos, partido que sempre se opôs publicamente ao orçamento secreto, a se distanciar de um de seus próprios membros — lembrando que instituições raramente são tão coesas quanto seus manifestos sugerem. O episódio ilumina como recursos públicos podem funcionar como moeda de lealdade política, longe dos olhos da sociedade.
- A admissão pública de do Val sobre os R$50 milhões rompeu um silêncio tácito que sustentava o funcionamento do sistema de emendas RP-9 no Senado.
- Seis senadores do Podemos, incluindo o líder da bancada Alvaro Dias, reagiram com rapidez e firmeza, assinando uma nota que equiparou a prática à compra de votos.
- A contradição era aguda: o partido havia declarado apoio a Simone Tebet na eleição da presidência do Senado, mas do Val e Romário quebraram a orientação e votaram em Pacheco — e foram recompensados por isso.
- Do Val recuou, alegando ter sido mal interpretado, mas o recuo não desfez o dano: sua posição dentro do Podemos ficou fragilizada diante dos próprios colegas.
- O caso expôs como o orçamento secreto operava como instrumento de gestão política — premiando aliados com recursos que seus estados dificilmente obteriam por outros meios.
Em julho de 2022, o senador Marcos do Val, do Podemos, admitiu ao Estadão ter recebido cinquenta milhões de reais em emendas do orçamento secreto — os chamados fundos RP-9 — como forma de gratidão por ter apoiado a eleição de Rodrigo Pacheco à presidência do Senado, em fevereiro do ano anterior. A declaração criou um problema imediato para o partido, que sempre se posicionou contra esse tipo de prática.
A resposta interna foi rápida. Seis senadores do Podemos, entre eles o líder da bancada Alvaro Dias, assinaram uma nota pública rejeitando o recebimento de emendas secretas e classificando o mecanismo como discriminatório e equivalente à compra de votos. O texto reafirmava que emendas individuais e partidárias regulares eram suficientes, e que o partido há muito defendia a extinção do RP-9.
A contradição era ainda mais incômoda porque o Podemos havia declarado apoio a Simone Tebet, do MDB, na disputa pela presidência do Senado. Do Val e o senador Romário desrespeitaram a orientação partidária e votaram em Pacheco — e, segundo do Val, foram informados por Davi Alcolumbre que teriam direito a direcionar recursos para seus estados como compensação. Romário acabou migrando para o PL de Bolsonaro; do Val permaneceu no Podemos, carregando uma tensão que a admissão pública tornou impossível de ignorar.
O contexto mais amplo agravava o quadro. Reportagens da época já mostravam que o governo Bolsonaro havia utilizado o orçamento secreto de forma estratégica para garantir o apoio tanto de Pacheco no Senado quanto de Arthur Lira na Câmara — um padrão de uso político de recursos públicos sem transparência ou escrutínio adequado.
Após a repercussão, do Val afirmou ter sido mal interpretado e pediu desculpas. Nenhuma punição formal foi aplicada, mas a repreensão pública dos próprios colegas de partido deixou clara a extensão do dano. O episódio revelou não apenas uma fratura dentro do Podemos, mas também o funcionamento silencioso de um sistema que transformava lealdade política em moeda de troca com dinheiro público.
In the middle of July 2022, the Brazilian political party Podemos found itself in an awkward position: one of its own senators had just admitted to something the party officially opposed. Marcos do Val, who represents Espírito Santo, told the newspaper Estadão that he had received fifty million reais in secret budget amendments—money distributed through what's known as RP-9 funds—as a form of gratitude for supporting Rodrigo Pacheco's bid to become president of the Senate the previous February.
The admission created immediate friction. Six other Podemos senators, including the party's floor leader Alvaro Dias, quickly signed a statement distancing themselves from do Val's actions. The note was direct: they opposed the receipt of any funds from these secret budget amendments and rejected what they called this method of conducting politics. They emphasized that regular individual and party amendments were sufficient, and they had long advocated for eliminating RP-9 funds altogether.
Do Val's explanation for accepting the money revealed how the system worked in practice. He said he had been told by Davi Alcolumbre, the former Senate president who orchestrated Pacheco's election, that he was entitled to direct fifty million reais in amendments to his home state as compensation for his support. The transaction was framed as gratitude, a reward for loyalty. But the party's statement reframed it in harsher terms: the secret budget amendments were discriminatory and amounted to vote-buying.
The contradiction was particularly sharp because Podemos had officially backed a different candidate. When the Senate presidency election took place in February 2021, the party had declared its support for Simone Tebet of the MDB. But do Val and another senator, Romário, broke ranks and voted for Pacheco instead. Romário later switched parties entirely, moving to Bolsonaro's PL. Do Val stayed, creating an internal tension that this admission now made public.
The broader context made the situation more damaging. Reporting at the time had shown that the Bolsonaro administration had deliberately released secret budget funds to support both Pacheco's Senate presidency campaign and Arthur Lira's bid for the Chamber presidency. These were not routine appropriations but strategic deployments of public money to secure political outcomes. The system allowed the executive and congressional leadership to reward allies and punish opponents without public scrutiny.
After the Estadão article appeared, do Val issued a statement claiming he had been misunderstood and apologized. But the damage to his standing within Podemos was already done. Senator Lasier Martins, speaking the evening after do Val's comments became public, articulated the party's position with particular force. He said he had always opposed the secret budget precisely because secrecy itself was reprehensible and censurable. Beyond that, the system was discriminatory and functioned as a mechanism for purchasing votes.
No formal disciplinary action was taken against do Val, but the public rebuke from his own party colleagues sent a clear message. The incident exposed a fracture within Podemos between its stated principles and the behavior of individual members willing to participate in the very system the party claimed to oppose. It also illustrated how the secret budget operated as a tool for managing Senate politics—rewarding those who supported leadership candidates with resources their states would otherwise not receive.
Citas Notables
We declare that we are opposed to the receipt of funds or resources from RP-9 amendments. We do not condone this way of conducting politics.— Statement from six Podemos senators
Everything that is secret is reprehensible and censurable. The secret budget was discriminatory and amounted to vote-buying.— Senator Lasier Martins (Podemos)
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
Why did Marcos do Val's admission matter so much if his party colleagues didn't formally punish him?
Because the public statement from six senators was itself the punishment. In Brazilian politics, a party's official condemnation carries weight—it signals that a member has violated the party's core identity. Podemos had built part of its brand on opposing exactly this kind of backroom dealing.
But do Val was just being honest about how the system actually works, wasn't he?
That's the uncomfortable part. He was describing the mechanism openly—you support the leadership candidate, you get rewarded with budget amendments for your state. The problem is that Podemos had said publicly they opposed this mechanism. So either the party was naive about how politics functioned, or do Val was breaking an implicit agreement to maintain the fiction.
What about the other senator who broke ranks, Romário?
He solved the problem by leaving. He moved to Bolsonaro's party, where supporting Pacheco and accepting the rewards would have been entirely consistent with the party line. Do Val stayed in Podemos, which meant he was living inside a contradiction.
Did the secret budget actually change anything about who got elected?
It may have. Pacheco won the presidency. Whether do Val's vote was decisive is impossible to say, but the fact that the administration was distributing these funds strategically suggests they believed it mattered. The real question is how many other votes were secured the same way, and how much of the Senate's independence was compromised by this system.
Why didn't Podemos just expel him?
That would have required a formal party process, and it would have been messier. The public statement accomplished something similar—it made clear that do Val was acting against party principles. Expulsion might have made him a martyr or forced a larger internal reckoning. The statement allowed the party to condemn the behavior while keeping the member.