Sins via inertia

Are Congress and the Executive branch repeating the mistakes in the 2025 national budget, billed as the most corrupt budget ever, Nosy Tarsee wanted to ask his elected politicians.

The Senate gave its green light to the P6.793-trillion national budget for 2026 on Thursday, advancing it to the second reading after making significant cuts to the DPWH budget and trimming the unprogrammed appropriations.

This move comes as lawmakers grapple with the rising public outrage over corruption allegations tied to government spending.

Despite cuts, unprogrammed funds at P174 billion remain a “ticking bomb” as bicameral talks could restore items via “technical adjustments.”

The 2025 GAA’s “allocables” scandal, where P200-plus billion in unlisted projects were exposed post-approval, has a sequel in 2026’s still-vague line items. Budget watchdogs demand full disclosure of bicameral changes, but Senator Chiz Escudero’s promise of transparency feels performative amid the historical non-compliance.

The 2026 budget’s infrastructure tilt (P1.5 trillion total) favors allies in construction lobbies, with environmental allocations criticized as “greenwashing” for corrupt deals.

Like 2025, debt and defense dominate (38 percent combined), squeezing social spending amid 5.5-percent inflation and 4.8-percent projected 2026 growth. Corruption’s drag, estimated at 10-20 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) annually by the World Bank — perpetuates this, with floods displacing two million in 2025 despite billions spent.

The Senate’s aggressive trimming (over P124 billion in total reductions) marks a departure from 2025’s rubber-stamp approval. This echoes post-2013 PDAF reforms but goes further by targeting DPWH explicitly.

Unlike 2025’s delayed backlash, 2026 deliberations integrated outrage from day one, with the civil society input via public hearings.

Repeated scandals erode trust, with foreign direct investment down 15 percent in 2025. A “corruption tax” inflates project costs by 20-30 percent, per Asian Development Bank studies, hindering objectives like poverty reduction.

This could fuel a 2028 midterm backlash against Marcos allies, boosting opposition like Sara Duterte, who quit the Cabinet after citing graft. Yet, without FDI expansions or independent audits, cycles persist — the Philippines ranks 116/180 on Transparency International’s index.

In sum, while 2026 isn’t a carbon copy, it risks repeating 2025’s sins through inertia. The cuts are a win for accountability, but without dismantling patronage, it’s damage control, not transformation.