General (mis)Appropriations Act of 2025

Unless nipped in the bud, a brewing social discontent from core to periphery might translate to a social movement beyond class distinctions and across the political ecosystem. A clueless government’s chronic nonchalance would be ill-advised.

In a Letter to the President, 183 named signatories aired grave concern over how the national budget may have been mis-prioritized as to have digressed from welfare and security issues. Their message presents a bird’s eye view of the brand of governance that’s now taking shape, against which a sizeable number of flag and star ranks in the police, military and uniformed services took one bold step —expressed their sentiments — in no unequivocal terms.

Reflecting a good grasp of the lay of the land of overall state affairs, their collective concern was somehow acted on with FM Jr. calling for a thorough review of the budget. The big issue revolved around the national budget — questionable deviations, remarkable upgrades, new items deemed unnecessary — compromising the more basic needs.

It should be worth disaggregating that the issues nesting discomfort in the ranks of largely retired commodores, rear admirals, vice admirals, brigadier generals, lieutenant generals, major generals center on the following, viz: a) budget Increases and reductions; 2) insertion of Ayuda sa Kapos ang Kita Program fund; 3) reductions to critical departments; 4) “fund slash” in the Armed Forces of the Philippines modernization program. Under each of these issues are a breakdown of sub-issues framed to be problem-specific.

Unmistakably the Trojan Horse, the unabashed insertion of AKAP funds necessarily caused severe reductions of allocations to vital line departments, more so the AFP modernization program. The urgent call for “good housekeeping” is founded on solid indisputable grounds, viz: a) more pressing needs played second fiddle; b) initial funding in key departments be reinstated; c) call for transparency and accountability lest AKAP leads to fund embezzlement.

When some 108 of the 183 letter-signatories who hold flag and star ranks in the police, military, and uniformed services put their word and honor on the line, no right-thinking president could just set the matter aside since it was a sincere call to “reboot” the program finalized by the bicameral conference committee that deliberated on the 2025 General (mis)Appropriations Act. It no less required a “congruence of mutual objectives.”

Clearly, the culprit here is the traditional bicameral conference committee constituted by designated members of the Senate and the House of Representatives. This committee becomes the powerful “clearing house” for the National Expenditure Program of the 2025 GAA. Unfortunately, the so-called “bicam” uncharacteristically increased Senate and House allocations, even bloated the Department of Public Works and Highways budget, to astronomical rates.

Consequently, the country’s star-rank “praetorian guards” albeit retired but still having clout in the police, military, and armed establishments forthwith pray that the voluminous GAA be assessed with a fine-tooth comb to align with the basic priorities and needs of the Filipino people.

Less than that, so it appears, some sense of restlessness might cascade down to elements in the active service since the entire police and military contingents are but a small universe of retired and active officers and personnel in constant touch with one another, both intra and inter-organization. Verily, they are urging FM Jr. to “veto” or otherwise “delete extraneous clauses” and return the monies to the “sectors unfairly disregarded.”

Plain View has it in good authority, or according to Rep. Rodante Marcoleta, it would require the President to call for a special session of Congress as, by himself, FM Jr. cannot reinstate the “castrated PhilHealth subsidy” from the GAA nor the “deducted funds from the crucial agencies.”

Given the eroding public confidence in government brewing unnoticed, it would do well for FM Jr. to demonstrate statesmanship toward a “seal of good housekeeping” via a determined, disciplined, and deconstructed national budget fully attuned to the highest good of the greatest number, totally abandoning the otherwise myopic, parochial, vested interests of corporate patrons.