Organized heist

Organized heist | Daily Tribune

Restoring the pork barrel system in the budget could have been among the objectives of the insatiable crooks in government, to keep their control of both the executive and the legislative branches.

Public funds became the target of a syndicated plunder that institutionalized discretionary funds, or pork barrel, through the budget, benefiting both the President and members of Congress.

In the 2025 budget — described by watchdogs as the most corrupt in the country’s history — high-level larceny occurred through the manipulation of budgetary provisions, designed to accommodate and conceal corrupt practices.

The public pushback has led to the current theatrics about cleaning up the government and exposing a corruption network among legislators, executive officials, and members of Congress.

It doesn’t matter if the small fry and the facilitators in government, along with the conduits in the private sector, are removed, since the methods are ingrained in the yearly General Appropriations Act (GAA).

Congress controls the allocable portion of the budget in collusion with agencies such as the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), while the Palace controls the unprogrammed appropriations (UA), which are released at the discretion of the Department of Budget and Management.

The allocable items are in the form of projects that legislators submit and are guaranteed funding by the agencies to which they were submitted.

This happened despite a Supreme Court ruling in 2013 declaring the pork barrel system and all similar schemes in the budget unconstitutional.

Even amid a strong public clamor to end the widespread looting of the annual budget, the pork barrel system is ingrained in government allocations.

The allocable portion of the budget, where members of Congress and senators identify their pet projects, is kept secret since it is the new form of pork barrel, according to an economist.

The UA, on the other hand, allows the executive to determine which projects will be funded.

The 2026 budget is far from being free of methods to introduce the pork barrel. However, it is expected to be reduced due to the public outrage over corruption allegations that reached the pinnacle of government.

“Solutions are stupid. Imagine saying we’re not funding flood control this year because there’s so much corruption in it. Did the floods disappear?” the economist asked.

Corruption will persist if anti-corruption efforts target only individuals and fail to reform institutions.

The pork barrel is illegal, but House members and senators continue to have the power to identify projects.

Discretionary funds across the government, including those for executive officials, such as the confidential funds and the UA, must be removed.

The budget process, hijacked by the crooks, must be overhauled to reduce, if not eliminate, opportunities for corruption.

This requires a colossal effort by Congress to dismantle the pork-barrel mechanisms embedded in the budget as a result of the collusion between the legislative and executive branches.

Trillions of pesos in lump sums turned into a pork barrel were created through the conspiracy that inflicted the poverty that most Filipinos suffer from.

The first task facing the nation is to bust the syndicate that exists and has a firm grip on the government.