P1-T pork syndicated

For the past 10 years, flood control projects have been a staple of the annual national budget, but these surged during the Marcos years beginning in 2023, research conducted by the Ateneo School of Government (ASoG) showed.

Yet, the flood control projects are the mere tip of the iceberg for the rapacious horde that descended on the country in 2022, which has thus far made off with P1 trillion in booty shared among them.

The report, part of a position paper by the academic institution on the extent of the corruption in government, also showed that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. not only allowed the ravaging of the yearly budget but was complicit in it.

“We are appalled by the gravity of human greed that we are witnessing. We are horrified by the blatant disregard for the rule of law. We are stunned by the complicity of leaders in flagrant corrupt practices,” the ASoG stated.

Based on the yearly budget of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), the cost of flood control programs were P42.3 billion in 2015 or 1.62 percent of the total General Appropriations Act (GAA); P64.2 billion in 2016, 2.14 percent of GAA; P72.9 billion in 2017, 2.18 percent; P127.7 billion in 2018, 3.39 percent; P90.72 billion in 2019, 2.48 percent; P90.1 billion in 2020, 2.2 percent; P101.8 billion in 2021, 2.26 percent; P129 billion in 2022, 2.57 percent; P183 billion in 2023, 3.47 percent; P244.6 billion in 2024, 4.24 percent; and P254 billion this year which is 4.02 percent of the total national budget.

Thus, the most significant jump in the pork barrel in proportion to the budget happened during Marcos’ current term.

Another dissection of the yearly budgets made by former Budget and Management Secretary Butch Abad indicated that massive cuts in the regular budget items and the diversion of funds during Marcos’ watch were unprecedented.

Neither Congress nor the President offered explanations for the manipulations and their magnitude until the P89.9-billion Philippine Health Insurance Corp. fund transfer fiasco and the violation of the Constitution when the appropriation for the DPWH exceeded that for the Department of Education, raising national outrage over the theft of public funds.

The yearly bicameral conference committee (bicam) reports showed that P219 billion was slashed from government agencies’ budgets in 2023, P449.5 billion in 2024, and P373 billion in 2025, for total cuts of P1.04 trillion.

Marcos disallowed only P26 billion of the budget transfers in the 2025 GAA using his veto power.

That left a total of P1.015.5 trillion in discretionary funds for the Senate and the House of Representatives thus far in his presidency.

Marcos applied his veto after the public uproar over the blank items in the 2025 GAA and the surge in unprogrammed appropriations (UA) that made room for the legislative pork barrel.

Abad said the 2023 GAA was the template for the perversion in the 2024 and 2025 budgets.

In the GAA for this year, the manipulation had intensified, with P347 billion slashed from agencies and diverted to other purposes in the budget. The largest of these transfers was P94.3 billion to the DPWH and P26 billion to the notorious Ayuda para sa Kapos ang Kita Program (AKAP).

The corruption had deepened over the last three years, eroding the integrity of public institutions and the morality in public service.

The magnitude of the resources siphoned off through the practices allowed by the President isww appalling and condemnable.

There should be no mistake about Marcos being an accomplice in the annual plunder of public funds, by not disallowing the pork that fattened the pockets of kith and kin.