Who watches the watchers?

The manipulation of billions of pesos in the yearly budget happens in the final phase of the budget process, particularly during the closed-door deliberations of the Bicameral Conference Committee (Bicam).

The body was formed to reconcile differences between the House of Representatives and Senate versions of the General Appropriations Bill (GAB) but it has morphed into a budgetary beast that mangles the yearly government allocations with impunity.

The Bicam has turned the annual budget process into a cesspool of opacity, political horse trading, and constitutional defiance.

In 2013, the Supreme Court ruled that the pork barrel system was unconstitutional but Congress through the Bicam was able to bring it back from the grave.

Ballooning unprogrammed funds, mysterious “blank items,” and slashed public welfare programs swapped for discretionary handouts are all evidence of the revival of the notorious legislative money pool.

During the recent Supreme Court oral arguments on the P89.9-billion Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) funds diversion scandal, it was revealed that the Bicam has the authority to introduce new budget items or substantially increase allocations beyond the initial approvals of either chamber, often with insufficient transparency or justification.

For instance, in the 2024 GAA, unprogrammed appropriations (UA) ballooned from P281.9 billion in the National Expenditure Program (NEP) to P731.4 billion, a P449.5-billion increase attributed to Bicam adjustments. Budget watchdogs argue this reflects discretionary “pork barrel” insertions favoring political interests over national priorities.

Bicam meetings are typically closed-door, limiting public oversight. Such opacity allows its members from the Senate and the House of Representatives to strike deals or initiate manipulations that deviate from the original intent of the budget.

The 2025 GAA controversy over “blank items” exemplifies the abuses, where petitioners in a complaint before the Supreme Court alleged the Bicam report contained unspecified amounts to be filled in later, raising questions about who authorized these changes and when.

Article VI, Section 25[1] of the Constitution prohibits Congress from increasing the President’s proposed appropriations unless sourced from savings.

The Bicam, however, exploits its authority to reallocate funds or inflate the UA to skirt this restriction, as seen in the 2024 and 2025 GAAs, where the UA grew disproportionately, prompting Supreme Court challenges.

Petitioners against the 2025 budget manipulation stated that revisions that the Bicam executed had the intent of giving priority to projects benefiting specific lawmakers’ districts or allies, undermining equitable resource distribution.

PhilHealth’s funding was gutted by P74 billion, leaving millions of Filipinos’ healthcare in the lurch, while the Bicam funneled billions into the nebulous Ayuda sa Kapos ang Kita (AKAP) program, a cash dole dripping with patronage.

The controversy around the blanks in the Bicam report being filled in after ratification, potentially by the Executive or unauthorized parties, undermined the legislative process, as the final GAA should reflect only what Congress ratified, not subsequent edits.

The Bicam’s broad mandate, limited accountability, and the lack of strict safeguards transformed a reconciliation mechanism into an avenue for budgetary overreach.

The broad powers of the legislative creation can facilitate abuses like unauthorized insertions, opacity, and patronage, as seen in the 2024 and 2025 GAA controversies.

Unprogrammed funds aren’t a safety net, they’re a blank check, and “blank items” aren’t clerical oversights, they’re a middle finger to transparency.

The issue is simple: Each hard-earned taxpayer peso rerouted in secret is a despicable betrayal.

The Roman poet Juvenal once asked, “Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?” or “Who will guard the guardians?” Who will hold accountable those who are in positions of power and authority?

Without restraints, the Bicam will keep churning out budgets that serve only the powerful, not the people.