Pork barrel lard still drips from the 2025 national budget despite President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. vetoing P194 billion in insertions, which is only the tip of the pork iceberg, according to budget watchdogs.

The budget remains laden with insertions and pork and that is the reality of the 2025 General Appropriations Act, a former Department of Budget and Management (DBM) official lamented.

The 2025 GAA is the third national budget with progressively inflated unprogrammed items, which are the repository of pork barrel insertions, the budget expert added.

Former Senator president Franklin Drilon has offered a solution to at least prevent the inserted pork from being used as campaign funds for the May polls.

Drilon suggested that Mr. Marcos classify all Congress-introduced amendments to the 2025 GAA as “for later release,” or FLR, which is an authority given to the DBM that was practiced during the previous administration.

Drilon described the veto of some items in the 2025 national budget as largely “cosmetic,” with most of the legislators’ projects largely intact in the appropriations for the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

“There is not much change. The pork barrel is still big in the DPWH,” Drilon noted. “The 2025 budget is considered an election-year budget, hence, we must be vigilant. The budget should not be a tool in aid of election.”

Tagging the items as FLR will delay their release and “prevent the budget from being perceived as a tool for election-related spending,” he added.

Withholding the insertions will also comply with the intent of the Omnibus Election Code, which prohibits the release, disbursement, or expenditure of public funds for public works, as well as the delivery of construction materials, prior to elections.

Under an FLR, items that are not part of the President’s National Expenditure Program (NEP) will be required to follow specific conditions before the funds are released.

Drilon, a veteran legislator, indicated that by classifying Congress-introduced amendments as FLR, the public will be assured that government funds will not be used for political leverage.

Of the vetoed items, P168 billion was part of the unprogrammed funds, while P26 billion was part of the regular DPWH budget, leaving a total of P263.9 billion in congressional insertions, with pork projects in the budget remaining significant at P347 billion.

According to Drilon, since most of the rejected items did not have specific funding, only P26 billion reverted to the National Treasury, which is insufficient to restore the funding of bumped-off projects in the NEP.

Items that the bicameral conference committee removed from the budget such as the P74.4-billion subsidy for PhilHealth and the P50 billion for the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) likely will not be restored.

In a line item veto, the President can’t return those items removed in the bicam, Drilon said that what can be done is a supplementation when the budget is already in effect. A budget supplement, however, should be approved by Congress.

Regarding the constitutional provision giving the Department of Education and not the Department of Public Works and Highways the biggest slice of the budget, Drilon said the matter can be raised before the Supreme Court.

Traditionally, the budget for the Department of Education includes the allocations for the Commission on Higher Education, State Colleges and Universities, and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority.

“They knew they had a problem so they included other learning institutions which are remotely related to the education sector,” Drilon said.

In sum, the best option for the budget is to delay the release of the insertions and, for good measure, the SC should decide on its adherence to the Constitution and to the High Court’s 2013 ruling that all forms of pork are illegal.