Feud spreads

The budget scandal is coming to a head as public outrage simmers over the mass plunder happening in government, sparked by the revelation of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. about the pilfering of money supposedly for flood control. This as the creativity of those in government in amassing wealth has reached new levels in exploiting the climate crisis for personal gain.

The Executive and Legislative branches have traded blame for the insertions in the national budget that have grown over the years, sowing confusion among the people who suffer its consequences. The most enormous insertions were traced to the bicameral conference committee, which is often referred to sarcastically as the third chamber of Congress, comprising leaders from the Senate and House.

The Bicam drafts the final version of the yearly budget, and in the final stages, a so-called small committee made up of three select legislators makes the finishing touches to the enrolled bill that is submitted to President Marcos for his signature. Watchdogs suspect that manipulation and horse-trading occur during closed-door meetings.

Then there is the version of the legislators in which the creation of the pork barrel starts with the National Expenditure Program (NEP), or in the proposed appropriations submitted by agencies.

In the 2026 NEP, several suspicious items, such as double entries and projects with uniform costs, were identified as possible sources of the invalidated pork barrel. The Supreme Court, in a 2013 ruling, stated the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) and other similar discretionary allocations violated the Constitution.

The House claim elicited a lively reaction from Malacañang through a statement of Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who pushed back, saying some lawmakers are spinning the situation to shift the blame to the Executive branch instead of taking responsibility for their “own corruption and failures.”

“The members of the Cabinet will not tolerate any attack on the integrity and reputation of the Executive branch, and any effort to hold the budget process hostage by political theatrics,” he said.

The drama that Bersamin refers to could be the threat of House leaders to return the NEP to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) due to the questionable entries.

House leaders wanted to avoid further public attention in making changes to the budget. Still, Congress is allowed under the Constitution to accept errata from the Executive but not to return the NEP.

Bersamin’s call to legislators to “clean your house first” was loaded with meaning, indicating that Congress should take responsibility for weeding out the crooks from its ranks.

“All our investigations into the anomalies will be futile if the sources of corruption remain unchecked,” he said.

The Senate exists under an Old Boys’ Club system that shields its members from accountability, while the House suffers the consequences as it is a perennial scapegoat for abuses in the budget.

Thus, the innocent bystander is left wondering why, instead of the branches of government taking a unified stand, they are now competing against each other to win public sympathy.

A skirmish at this time threatens the protagonists to cancel each other out, with destabilizers waiting in the wings to take advantage.