The plunder of public funds has evolved into a sophisticated art form — one that persists not despite the Ferdinand Marcos Jr. administration, but with its acquiescence at the highest levels.

While the President talks about a “clean and good budget,” the wheels of corruption keep turning, through padded projects, manipulated appropriations and quiet backroom deals.

A culture of complicity and constant public distraction protects all of this.

Real reform will not happen through rhetoric and elegant speeches alone. It demands genuine political will from the President.

Three years into the administration, the Marcos government lacks the resolve to dismantle the incentives for corruption embedded in the system.

The playbook is familiar. After the Supreme Court struck down the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) as unconstitutional, legislators adapted.

They now identify “priority infrastructure projects” within agency budgets, particularly at the Department of Public Works and Highways.

A flood control project is inserted into the budget, allowing contractors and middlemen to deliver kickbacks into the greedy hands of politicians.

Basic measures, such as releasing documents or live-streaming sessions, failed to ensure transparency.

Unprogrammed Appropriations (UA), which are resistant to calls for their removal, grant the executive sweeping discretion for ghost projects, a mechanism that the crooks installed in the national budget.

The 2026 budget exemplifies the continuity of corruption, as the tools of corruption remained embedded in it.

Billions, even trillions of pesos over time, vanish into rent-seeking while essential sectors limp along.

Distractions are necessary to keep the sinister juice flowing. The hunt for fugitive congressman Zaldy Co and the revived impeachment effort against Vice President Sara Duterte dominate headlines.

Meanwhile, the network of theft, undertaken through budget manipulation at the highest levels, receives far less scrutiny.

Scandals are conjured up to distance the presidency from accountability. The selective targeting of contractors and mid-level officials allows the enablers of corruption in Congress and the Palace to retain the power to allocate and skim off public funds.

Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN) disclosures only deepen the cynicism. 

Filings by top officials reveal persistent red flags, including lifestyles that are incompatible with their official salaries, understated assets, and conveniently timed divestments from business interests.

Many public officials’ asset declarations don’t add up — they look suspiciously low.

When people call on the President, Vice President, and other top officials to release their SALNs, the response is often delay, deflection, or outright resistance.

To make matters worse, everything still runs on outdated manual processes with data trapped in separate systems.

This makes it nearly impossible to cross-check declarations against tax records and government procurement databases. True transparency remains frustratingly out of reach.

Digitalization crawls at a snail’s pace. SALNs, intended as tools of accountability, too often serve as a means of selective harassment instead.

Abolishing the confidential funds would strip the moral hypocrisy. Eliminating the UA would curb discretion. Prioritizing PhilHealth and genuine infrastructure over patronage is elementary. Yet not one has been implemented.

Policy inertia signals that wholesale thievery remains tolerable so long as it is creatively disguised.

The Filipino people are not stupid. They recognize when their attention is being diverted from the root causes of the spectacles.

Without strong leadership, full transparency and a systemic overhaul, the 2026 national budget would be no different from its predecessors.

Until President Marcos Jr. acts decisively, the corruption crisis will persist, disguised as governance.