BAYAN: Bicam deadlock on DPWH budget all about kickbacks

The Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) on Tuesday, 16 December, lamented the current deadlock in the bicameral conference committee over the proposed 2026 national budget is all about "kickbacks."

"The bicam deadlock exposes the entrenched pork barrel system that continues to drain public funds meant for genuine infrastructure and social services," BAYAN said.

"It also confirms that corruption is not an aberration but a structural feature of the current budget-making process," it added.

The insufficient data submitted by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) led to a deadlock over its P45-billion budget cut, prompting Senate Finance Committee Chair Sherwin Gatchalian to call for a postponement of the bicameral meeting on Monday.

Gatchalian assured that the chamber would not approve an overpriced budget of the DPWH after the agency acknowledged its submission of insufficient data to the Senate Committee on Finance.

BAYAN, however, argued that previous investigations and testimonies related to the flood control program "have already exposed how corruption is built into the budget process itself."

"As early as the National Expenditure Program (NEP) stage, legislators reportedly receive advance payments for kickbacks tied to infrastructure projects," it added.

BAYAN pertained to the standard operating procedures (SOPs) with "20 to 25 percent" of the project cost reflected in the NEP which were allegedly given to lawmakers by contractors to secure contracts, as revealed during the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee on flood control.

"This would explain why a 25 percent reduction--or P54 billion--in the DPWH budget is being fiercely resisted by the House contingent. Such a cut directly translates to reduced kickbacks. That, and not concern for public welfare, is the crux of the issue as far as many legislators are concerned," it added.

BAYAN called on the Senate to "stand its ground and refuse to buckle under pressure from pork-hungry legislators."

"The proposed reduction in the DPWH budget must be upheld and expanded further. The Senate should also push for cuts to other pork barrel allocations, including the P45 billion SAGIP program, which it removed from the Unprogrammed Appropriations. Better yet, just remove the entire section on Unprogrammed Appropriations, which is nothing but presidential pork," it added.

"The Senate must prove whether it stands with the people or with the pork barrel system that has long plagued our country."