Clear, present conspiracy

Clear, present conspiracy | Daily Tribune

For the past three years, the government has operated under budgets manipulated for bread and circuses for its legislative allies.

Petitioners before the Supreme Court questioning the constitutionality of the 2026 national budget have posed the inescapable question to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.: “Why did you allow it amid the corruption wave?”

Critics estimated that more than P1 trillion in the budgets was diverted to pork barrel projects through the ingenious use of the Unprogrammed Appropriations (UA) to generate kickbacks.

The National Expenditure Program (NEP) lists the President’s priorities that are usually not touched during the drafting of the national budget by Congress.

However, from 2023 to 2025, approximately P1.45 trillion in insertions and diversions were made.

A considerable portion involved foreign-assisted projects, for which the government is required to provide counterpart funding.

Projects such as the Metro Manila Subway and the Philippine National Railways elevated system, both flagship transport projects, should have been fully funded. Instead, the P399 billion allotted for these projects was transferred to the UA.

They were replaced with projects favored by politicians, such as flood control works, street lighting, and other projects known to yield maximum kickbacks.

A key personality in the SC complaint, Caloocan Representative Egay Erice, said he had repeatedly raised with President Marcos the relegation of necessary projects to the UA.

“In 2023, P280 billion was removed from his budget; in 2024, over P500 billion was diverted and in 2025, P473 billion went to the UA. Neither he nor his Cabinet intervened. It feels like sabotage,” Erice said.

Mr. Marcos, in effect, allowed the yearly General Appropriations Act (GAA) during his term to be transformed into a congressional budget.

Erice said the probable reason for ensuring that his allies were happy was “to incentivize members of Congress, including during discussions on the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte.”

There were also the 2025 national and local elections, during which administration candidates had significantly more resources.

The budgets under Marcos have mirrored the precedence of politics over the national interest.

The diversion of infrastructure programs will delay the undertakings, thereby denying the nation opportunities for economic growth.

Erice said the veto of P92 billion in the 2026 national budget was meaningless when the UA was retained.

Placing the foreign-assisted projects in the UA delayed payments, which meant increased costs by at least 20 percent due to penalties, interest, and price escalation, and delayed projects by four years.

The subway was expected to be operational by 2028; it is now projected to be operational by 2032. The PNR elevated railway was scheduled to open by 2029; it is now expected to open by 2032. Together, these delays will result in an additional P300 billion in costs.

Since these were projects of the previous Duterte administration, the likely reason for the deliberate delays is to prevent voters from being reminded that, in practice, nothing was initiated during the term of Marcos.

It would be futile to resort to a credit grab, since the infrastructure buildup known as Build, Build, Build was replaced by Build, Build, More, only to be associated with the fraudulent flood control projects.

Adding insult to injury was the Palace’s reminder that it was President Marcos who disclosed the corruption in flood control projects.

By publicly disclosing the racket involving his allies, the President reinforced the perception that he lacked the resolve to pursue them.

As President, he has all the power and resources to expose the biggest crooks in government.

Why did Marcos allow the perversion of the budget, and why is he now doing so little to ensure that the masterminds will be brought to justice?

What has transpired since the Floodgate scandal broke appears to be little more than a show.