Pork-loaded GAA lives on

Pork-loaded GAA lives on | Daily Tribune

Failing to recognize its symbolism, Senator Sherwin “Win” Gatchalian, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Finance, said that a reenacted 2025 budget at the start of next year would be prudent.

This may be acceptable if it lasts no more than a week. Beyond that, the prospect becomes less reassuring, as the 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA) has been widely characterized as the “most corrupt budget in Philippine history.”

The Bicameral Conference Committee (Bicam), which handles the final stage of the General Appropriations Bill, is expected to submit the budget to the Executive on 29 December, or two days before the New Year.

With his survey ratings underwater, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is expected to pore over the more than 4,000-page enrolled General Appropriations Bill in a bid to regain political footing.

The open Bicam was cited as a reason for the delay, but a review of the proceedings shows that the process stretched due to unabated grandstanding by its members, often with cameras rolling.

In previous instances, reenacted budgets affected economic growth.

In the context of widespread perceptions of the 2025 GAA as highly corrupt, even a brief reenactment will affect confidence next year, particularly among businesses and consumers.

A reenacted budget reduces overall government disbursements by limiting spending to the previous year’s levels and prohibiting funding for new programs or projects.

Past reenactments resulted in hundreds of billions of pesos in spending reductions, which dampened gross domestic product growth.

A partial-year reenactment was projected to slow GDP by 0.2 to 0.3 percentage points, according to a leading economist.

A prolonged rewind of the 2025 GAA could stall already reduced growth momentum, especially as public spending remains constrained by investigations into government projects amid the corruption scandal.

Due to allegations of “midnight insertions,” irregularities in flood control projects and disproportionate allocations favoring certain districts or interests, essential services such as health and education will also be affected.

Government agencies would continue operating under 2025 funding levels, ensuring salaries for public employees and the maintenance of ongoing initiatives without interruption.

However, new hires, salary increases, or fresh projects outlined in the proposed 2026 budget would have to wait, potentially causing bottlenecks in education, healthcare and public works.

As the 2025 budget was enveloped in controversy over the alleged misallocation of flood control projects worth trillions of pesos and claims of corruption levels reaching 40 to 50 percent, reenactment would delay reforms intended to address these issues.

The core criticism of the 2025 GAA stems from the lack of full disclosure in allocations, making the process prone to manipulation, particularly as reenactment effectively turns the budget into an executive pork barrel.

Moreover, the public has linked the 2025 budget to the erosion of President Marcos’ reputation as a leader, intensifying political tension and public scrutiny.

The President is expected to issue vetoes on controversial provisions of the enrolled bill to regain lost ground.

Securing 59 percent of the vote, or 31 million ballots, Marcos entered office with unprecedented political capital to initiate reforms and steer the country toward regional development.

By December 2025, that capital lies in tatters, reduced to a presidency mired in distrust. The latest numbers suggest a leader teetering on the edge of irrelevance, or worse.

Marcos is now widely associated with the damage caused by the 2025 corrupt budget.