SOFT PORK? Senate to press DBM over record-high LGSF allocation
A Senate panel on Sunday warned that the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) will be pressed to explain the record-high increase in the Local Government Support Fund (LGSF), which rose to P58.53 billion under the originally proposed 2027 budget, despite budget watchdogs' concerns about pork barrel allocations.
The P58.53 billion was the initial budget earmarked by the DBM under the National Expenditure Program (NEP), the President’s version of the budget subject to Congress review.
However, the amount increased again after a House of Representatives subcommittee—composed of select lawmakers—augmented it by P4.09 billion in its budget version, which it then submitted to the Senate.
“The DBM will be the last agency to face questioning, and we will ask them about the criteria they use for selecting [which local government will get a chunk of these funds] since the DBM is responsible for processing the LGSF,” Senator JV Ejercito, chair of the Senate finance committee, said in a radio interview.
Ejercito stressed the need to scrutinize the LGSF to ensure it is fairly distributed to local government units amid criticism, calling the program “soft pork” or “LGU pork.”
Critics and watchdogs argue that the LGSF leaves too much room for discretion in approval and release, which can allegedly be leveraged for political patronage or as campaign tools ahead of the 2028 national elections.
Ejercito argued that the LGSF should genuinely help LGUs address grassroots needs, not be misused for political gains or used to reward or favor political allies.
The San Juan lawmaker noted that initial reports indicated nearly all LGUs that applied for LGSF received funding from the NEP, underscoring the need to examine the DBM's criteria for approving such applications.
“That is how we will determine if they have criteria in place. We must ensure that this serves to assist the LGUs, rather than being used for political patronage,” he said.
The 2027 NEP allegedly contained a “uniform" P180-million lump-sum allocation for the establishment of evacuation centers across 17 regions, with a staggering combined total of over P3 billion, purportedly lacking crucial details.
Evacuation centers can be funded under the LGSF.
Senator Ping Lacson flagged the uniform budget and speculated it may relate to the 2028 election campaign, which Malacañang denied.
According to Lacson, line items for the evacuation centers provided no details such as specific locations where the centers would be built.
The LGSF posted its biggest increase this year at P57.87 billion. The figure was more than double the previous year’s P23 billion.
The LGSF intends to strengthen basic services, livelihoods, and support for LGUs with limited resources.