House members challenge Senator Marcos over budget realignment

Members of the House of Representatives are trying to get the upper hand against Senator Imee Marcos following her admission of realigning the government's Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program in the 2023 budget, depriving nearly 4.3 million indigent Filipinos.

In a statement Thursday, House Deputy Speaker David Suarez demanded an explanation to Marcos for slashing the social program's budget for the poorest of the poor in the bicam report of the 2023 General Appropriations Act, resulting in 900,000 families not getting the cash grant.

Marcos, who sponsored the budget of the Department of Social Welfare and Development in 2023, was accused of redirecting P13 billion 4Ps funds to other "quickly implementable" social amelioration programs of the agency, such as the Supplementary Feeding Program and Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation, among others.

The realignment, however, drew flak from House members, claiming such a move contravened Republic Act 11310 or the 4Ps Act.

"Let us not forget, 4Ps is a law. It's not just a regular program, it's not just a project that comes and goes. It has specific beneficiaries. It has specific objectives, and therefore, the funding has to be secured to support the intent of the program," Suarez said.

Deputy Majority Leader Jude Acidre, meanwhile, said Marcos should be held responsible for explaining the whereabouts of the budget.

"I don't think the accountability of Sen. Marcos is simply by admitting that she was the one who removed that from the budget during the bicam. I think her accountability to her constituents is to also explain to them, 'where did the money go?" Acidre said.

He underscored that as lawmakers themselves, they are "duty-bound" to implement the law.

Marcos brushed off "malicious" claims that she led the P13 billion budget cut in the 4Ps last year, expounding that the DSWD during the committee hearings admitted that only 45 percent of the program's budget had been spent, with a single quarter to go.

"My conviction, as it has always been, was that the DSWD budget must be retained at all costs, as the poor would suffer all reductions and losses. Thus, the P8 billion from the 4Ps was saved and benefited countless marginalized sectors," Marcos said.

House members seemingly turned the tables on Marcos, accusing that the P26.7 billion AKAP or Ayuda sa Kapos ang Kita Program was inserted by the lower chamber under the DSWD's 2024 budget to fund the contentious people's initiative to amend the 1987 Constitution.