2027 House budget pork-free ‘as defined by SC’ — Garcia
Bataan 2nd District Rep. Albert “Abet” Garcia rejected claims that the House-approved version of the proposed 2027 national budget contained “pork” or unauthorized insertions, saying all amendments to the executive’s proposal underwent the required process.
“The House maintains its position that there is no ‘pork’ in the [House General Appropriations Bill]. I’m not a lawyer, but if we look at the definition of pork in the Supreme Court decision, it is post-enactment intervention,” Garcia said in a press briefing Monday.
“We’re still in the budget process, so there is no post-enactment intervention. After that, we have no more say, as the implementation of the budget rests with the Executive,” he added.
Garcia also denied that lawmakers had made insertions, saying the amendments were validated by concerned government agencies and met the requirements of what he described as “bottom-up budgeting.”
He said the approach ensured that allocations were based on the needs of communities across the country.
“Those are legitimate amendments so that our budget can be more responsive to the challenges and needs of our country and our people. So, we will maintain that position as we enter the bicam,” he said.
Win, JV meeting
Garcia said House leaders had met with Senate President Sherwin “Win” Gatchalian and Senate Finance Committee chairperson JV Ejercito to discuss the schedule and issues ahead of the Bicameral Conference Committee (Bicam) deliberations in December.
He said the House had explained the basis for its amendments amid earlier concerns from senators over changes between the National Expenditure Program and the House General Appropriations Bill.
Garcia also rejected claims that budget allocations for congressional districts had been politicized, particularly reports by civil society groups that a large portion of the funds went to districts represented by majority lawmakers.
He said the House’s role was to push for the needs of its respective districts, describing the allocations as a form of representation rather than political patronage.
“Needs-based, politics is not the emphasis but the needs of the barangays, municipalities, provinces... I don’t think you can call that political if these are what they need,” Garcia said.
On Saturday, 7 November, ACT Teachers Partylist Rep. Antonio Tinio released a list identifying the five congressional districts with the highest allocations. They were represented by House leaders.
Garcia said allocations for each district had been substantially reduced from previous years following reforms in the House, limiting lawmakers’ ability to address their constituents’ needs.
Bicam talks
“So, we need to see the reality. First, the allocation per district was dropped a lot... second, being the leader of the House, of course, it is the expectation for them is higher not only in their locality but outside of their province because they are national figures,” he said.
“Because of the reduced allocation, I would imagine they receive 1,000 times more requests, and what they accommodate is only a fraction of those,” he added.
Garcia said he saw no problem with the allocations as long as the funded projects addressed community needs, such as road construction.
The House is scheduled to hold Bicameral Conference Committee deliberations from 10 to 12 December, with ratification of the report expected by 22 December.
The Senate began plenary deliberations on its version of the proposed budget, with approval expected on 7 December.