Bicam round 1: Pork barrel wins — BAYAN

The Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) on Sunday expressed dissatisfaction with how lawmakers handled discussions on the proposed P6.7-trillion national budget during the first day of the bicameral conference committee deliberations on Saturday, 13 December.

"The first round of the bicameral conference committee deliberations on the proposed 2026 General Appropriations Bill (GAB) has made one thing clear: pork barrel once again emerged victorious at the expense of transparency, accountability, and the people's urgent needs," BAYAN said in a statement on 14 December.

Instead of heeding widespread calls to cut or substantially reduce pork and patronage programs, BAYAN said the bicameral panel "expanded funding for two of the most notorious channels of political pork" — farm-to-market roads and the medical assistance program under the Department of Health (DOH).

Lawmakers, after a two-hour deliberation, agreed to increase funding for farm-to-market roads to P33 billion, from an initial P16 billion.

BAYAN said the move would further entrench a program "long plagued by allegations of overpricing, substandard implementation, and politically dictated project lists."

"Worse, it was apparent that the senators were clueless about where the additional funding would go, with some hypocritically expressing reservations but agreeing to the scheme nonetheless," the group said.

"Ominously, a member of the House contingent called on the agriculture department to revise its road masterplan to accommodate new areas for implementation," it added.

Meanwhile, BAYAN criticized the increase in funding for the DOH’s controversial medical assistance program, whose budget was raised to P51 billion despite calls from civil society groups to cut all funding for pork and patronage programs.

If signed into law, the Medical Assistance to Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients (MAIFIP) program will receive a higher allocation in 2026 than the P42 billion it received in 2025.

"Equally alarming is the treatment of the DOH’s controversial health aid program. Instead of defunding this long-abused system of requiring guarantee letters from politicians to get medical assistance, the bicam even increased the allocation to P51 billion. Thus, the MAIFIP Program will receive more funding in 2026 than in previous years, further entrenching the patronage system in healthcare," BAYAN said.

"These increases expose the hollowness of official rhetoric about budget reform. While ordinary Filipinos endure rising prices, inadequate public services, and repeated disasters, lawmakers continue to fatten discretionary funds that are routinely used for political favors, electoral advantage, and rent-seeking."

BAYAN stressed that the bicameral process "must not be a bargaining table for pork," but "must serve the people."