Opposition slams ‘rushed’ ratification of 2026 budget

Opposition lawmakers in the House of Representatives on Thursday slammed the “railroading” of the ratification of the Bicameral Conference Committee report on the 2026 General Appropriations Bill (GAB), suggesting the rush was intended to prevent questions over what they described as a “pork-laden budget.”

Both the House and the Senate ratified on Monday the bicameral report on the 2026 budget, which reconciled the differing versions of their respective GABs.

However, unlike the Senate, the House resumed its session briefly and denied members the privilege to manifest objections before promptly ratifying and transmitting the measure to Malacañang for President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s signature.

ACT Teachers Rep. Antonio Tinio, Gabriela Rep. Sarah Elago, and Kabataan Rep. Renee Co described the move as a “mockery of transparency,” saying it was an apparent attempt to rush the process and insulate the budget from scrutiny.

They maintained that the move was driven by the existence of “pork barrel” allocations in various forms in the budget, particularly in the Unprogrammed Appropriations (UA).

“The administration claims this is a pork-free budget. That is a brazen lie. The 2026 budget is riddled with multiple forms of pork barrel: presidential pork, vice presidential pork, allocables, hard pork, soft pork, generals’ pork, and the newest variant — the local government unit pork,” the Makabayan lawmakers said in a joint statement.

They said the bicameral conference committee, composed of selected members of the House and Senate, bloated the local government unit “pork” to P73.2 billion, with the bulk supposedly earmarked for the Local Government Support Fund (LGSF).

According to the lawmakers, an increase of P41.87 billion pushed funding for the LGSF to P57.87 billion from P16 billion under the National Expenditure Program endorsed by the executive branch.

They added that financial assistance to local government units allegedly swelled from P5 billion to P37.5 billion, while the Growth Equity Fund jumped from P1 billion to P11.3 billion.

The allocations, they said, are vulnerable to misuse due to their lump-sum nature, which allows them to be used for infrastructure projects and financial assistance at the discretion of politicians.

“Even the Calamity Fund was converted into pork. A new lump-sum fund, the Disaster Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Assistance Program for local government units, was allocated P15.33 billion — a new form of presidential pork barrel that can be used for roads, bridges, multipurpose buildings, and financial assistance in areas affected by calamities, epidemics, or armed conflict over the past two years,” the lawmakers said.

They alleged that the bicam increased funding for various LGU programs at the expense of government employees' salaries, benefits, and regularisation. 

“The Miscellaneous Personnel Benefits Fund was reduced by P10.77 billion, and the Pension and Gratuity Fund was cut by P2 billion, with these amounts transferred to unprogrammed appropriations,” they added. 

“While we successfully prevented the P20.56 billion cut to performance-based bonuses and plantilla positions for government employees and public school teachers, P43.25 billion for Personnel Services Requirements now sits in unprogrammed appropriations—with no certainty that these will be funded next year,” they continued. 

The UA, branded by watchdigs as the new face of “pork,” serves as a standby fund outside the annual national budget, which the executive only releases when there are excess revenues or when foreign grants or loans materialise to fund priority projects.

Despite mounting calls to scrap it, the bicam remained unfazed and retained the P243 in UA in the 2026 budget. 

The amount was the allocation approved under the House GAB, three times larger than the Senate’s proposed P68.77 billion.

According to the Makabayan lawmakers, the UA has “no constitutional basis” and has been “grossly abused in past years”, as seen in the flood control scandal. 

“This is nothing but a massive presidential pork barrel fund, a slush fund prone to corruption and political manipulation. The new General Provision No. 78 on Suspension of Expenditure—reminiscent of the unconstitutional Disbursement Acceleration Program—allows the President to impound MOOE and capital outlays when ‘public interest so requires’ or when there is an ‘unmanageable budget deficit,” the averred.

The said provision, they said, can be deliberately used to create "savings" to augment other pork barrel programs.

In 2023 and 2024, a staggering P141 billion was allegedly charged to the UA to bankroll flood control projects.

“Whatever name they used, these programs constitute the essence of the pork barrel system—rebranded but fundamentally unchanged,” the bloc said.

“Worse, the President now has his own exclusive soft pork: the Presidential Assistance to Farmers and Fisherfolk. Instead of genuine agrarian reform, the junking of the Rice Liberalization Law, and a stop to agricultural imports, farmers and fisherfolk are offered measly ayuda,” they added.