Stacked 2027 pork pares spending room

Revisions made by the Budget Amendments and Review Subcommittee (BARSc) to the proposed P7.2-trillion national budget for next year have cut the fiscal space envisioned in the National Expenditure Program by half, with nearly P541.4 billion reportedly absorbed by “pork allocations.”

The BARSc was the former small committee of the House appropriations panel that was notorious for pork insertions.

A review by budget watchdogs found that BARSc’s amendments favored patronage-prone spending, including subsidy programs and politicized infrastructure projects, which critics say could be used to build political support ahead of the 2028 elections.

People’s Budget Coalition (PBC) adviser AJ Montesa said the House special panel’s amendments, as reflected in its livestream, were substantially larger than the reported figures.

Contrary to the P116-billion figure the BARSc presented, Montesa noted that the special panel reallocated P199 billion without clearly indicating where the amendment funding came from.

Of the government agencies that saw drastic revisions, the Department of Public Works and Highways got a P11.5-billion increase through the special panel.

Montesa, however, said the bumps came after the panel took P130 billion from foreign-assisted project funding, another P9.5 billion from calamity funds, and P4.9 billion from Department of Health (DoH) programs.

He also pointed out that some promised changes to the panel’s livestream were not implemented, such as funding for classroom construction and health facilities.

Montesa said most of the funds went to ayuda initiatives, such as the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation program, which was allotted P24.8 billion.

A similar amount, P24 billion, was also earmarked for the DoH’s Medical Assistance to Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients (MAIFIP).

“In all of these projects, politicians have parked allocations that were not shown to the public,” Montesa claimed.

The DPWH, meanwhile, received lump sums for the construction of multi-purpose buildings and bypass roads of P42.7 billion and P29.2 billion, respectively.

Montesa also highlighted that the 1st District Engineering Office of Ilocos Norte, represented by Representative Sandro Marcos, received P53.7 billion.

Montes acknowledged, however, that budget bumps had supported the public through the height of the fuel crisis and other health initiatives, amounts he said that were small compared to the pork additions.

Amendments for pork

Public finance specialist Zy-za Nadine Suzara, for her part, pointed out that the BARSc changes contributed to the “tight” fiscal space.

The proposed 2027 budget increased by just P407 billion from the previous year.

The additions for next year were entirely consumed by pork allocations, which she said reached P541.4 billion.

Referencing Montesa’s findings, the specialist noted that “hard pork” remained the largest contributor to the constricted fiscal space.

Suzara said that aside from the DPWH, the Department of Agriculture also accounted for the allocations, with P339.6 billion earmarked.