San Fernando backs calls to disclose 2027 budget insertions
The House Committee on Appropriations conducted its first hearing to deliberate on and scrutinize the proposed national budget for fiscal year 2027 on Monday, 17 August.
HoR
Kamanggagawa Party-list Rep. Eli San Fernando supported calls to disclose the budget allocations earmarked for their respective congressional districts and party-lists amid renewed concerns over the lack of transparency in the national budget.
The lawmaker took up the challenge issued by Navotas Rep. Toby Tiangco, who went on a live broadcast the previous week to detail the proposed projects funded in his district while urging fellow lawmakers to do the same.
“Kamanggagawa Partylist is taking up the challenge to release all proposed projects and insertions in the 2027 budget,” San Fernando said in a statement on Sunday. “Why would we not take it up? We had zero allocations, we did not ask for, insert, or pleaded for an infrastructure project in the 2027 budget.”
San Fernando asserted that lawmakers confident in the manner their projects were included in the House General Appropriations Bill (HGAB) should not be afraid to disclose how they intended to spend their allocated amounts.
He maintained that it was Congress' prerogative to explain to the Filipino people how public funds allocated to lawmakers would be spent, particularly if there were no anomalies behind the appropriations.
“If our lawmakers have nothing to hide and their inserted projects underwent the proper process, why would they be afraid to share it to the public?” the lawmaker asked.
“It is the right of every working and ordinary Filipino to know where every peso of their taxes goes. Public funds do not come from politicians and must not be concealed from the public,” he stressed.
Amid continued calls from budget watchdogs for greater public access to information on the HGAB, San Fernando appealed to House leaders to heed requests to release the list of amendments and budget insertions.
San Fernando warned that failure to do so could put the country at risk of reliving the multibillion-peso flood control scandal.
“When that list is not released, there is a big possibility that the flood control scandal would be repeated...but now, it’s not only focused on flood control,” he said.
The lawmaker said budget anomalies had manifested themselves in the form of multipurpose buildings, farm-to-market roads, subsidy programs and other projects that could be vulnerable to corruption.
San Fernando emphasized that budget transparency went beyond presenting figures to the public, saying Filipinos should also know how large allocations would be appropriated and used in the coming year.
Deliberations on the 2027 budget have moved to the Senate after the House of Representatives approved its version of the bill on 12 October.
San Fernando and Tiangco were among the lawmakers who voted against its approval, along with other members of the House minority.