SCUTTLEBUTT

An expert on the budget process said that compared to other nations, the Philippines looks like a fiscal free-for-all.

In the US, conference committees undertake budget deliberations under public scrutiny, with the Congressional Budget Office examining every amendment proposal in the bill.

Germany’s mediation committee sticks to disputed items and is guided by constitutional debt limits. The UK barely lets Parliament touch the budget, keeping the sanctity of the Treasury’s reins tight. Even South Africa mandates public input.

In the Philippines the budget is left in the hands of the shadowy bicam (bicameral conference committee).

The committee’s carte blanche is an anomaly — a relic of a system that trusts lawmakers to police themselves when history screams they won’t.

Members of Congress argue the bicam’s latitude reflects legislative prerogative, a necessary buffer against executive overreach.

“Nonsense. This isn’t balance — it’s a power grab dressed up as process. The Constitution’s checks exist for a reason, and the bicam’s habit of sidestepping them isn’t ingenuity; it’s insolence,” according to the budget watchdog.

The solution is curtailing the bicam’s powers. Open sessions should be mandated to allow the public to check on the process.

“Cap its scope to reconciling differences, not rewriting the budget. Enforce constitutional limits with teeth, require documented savings for every increase, no exceptions. Better yet, create an independent fiscal watchdog, not some executive lapdog like the DBM, to call out the bullshit,” the government insider said.

The bicam’s unchecked reign has turned the GAA into an annual scandal, a ritual of excess that fuels cynicism and hinders progress.