Senate urged: Review House ‘pork’ amendments

ACT Teachers Partylist Rep. Antonio Tinio urged the Senate to conduct a thorough review of the amendments that were made to the proposed ₱7.2-trillion budget at the House of Representatives, stressing that the approved budget was filled with pork-type insertions.

He explained that move of the Budget Amendments and Review Subcommittee (BARSc) to take allocations intended for foreign-assisted projects increased the risk of the government absorbing higher deficits as it would result in increased borrowing and other additional costs.

“The Senate should review the amendments made by the House, particularly the increases in hard (infrastructure) and soft (ayuda) pork items at the expense of education, health, and personnel benefits,” Tinio said in a statement.

Amid his concerns, the lawmaker expressed hope that the Senate would steer clear of making similar changes to the budget through focusing on infrastructure and subsidy programs, instead he called for more focus on mending gaps in funding.

Tinio said that there were observable deficiencies when it came to sectors like health, education, agriculture, and personnel benefits that were provided to officials working for the government along with other initiatives that were supposedly ignored in the House version of the budget.

“Turn away from ayuda and instead focus on funding expansion and improvement of hospitals and schools. Jobs, not handouts,” he stressed.

Tinio likewise highlighted the need to increase funding for the Personnel Economic Relief Allowance (PERA) program which directly benefitted the two million employees of the government, noting that the ₱500 increase at the lower chamber was insufficient.

It is worth noting that Tinio was among the 13 lawmakers that voted against approving the 2027 House General Appropriations Bill (HGAB) on Monday, 12 October.

The sentiments of the congressman came as a reaction to Senate Committee on Finance Chairperson Senator JV Ejercito airing his concerns over the passed HGAB version.

Ejercito admitted that he was “puzzled” with the massive changes in the House’s proposed budget from the 2027 National Expenditure Program of the Department of Budget and Management.

“We confirm that there are significant changes between the National Expenditure Program and the House version of the GAB,” he said.

“My initial reaction was really confusion on why funding for certain programs were removed or reduced,” he added.

The senator said that the biggest shifts could be observed in the budget proposals of the Department of Public Works and Highways, Department of Agriculture, and the Department of Health.

With their initial findings uncovering that ₱206 billion was moved, Ejercito explained that the Senate was limited in the institutional amendments that it could insert into the national budget.

Even with his reservations, the lawmaker expressed that he was open to understanding the reason behind the changes while also ensuring the funding would be provided for sectors that needed it.

“We simply need to understand the changes, the reasons and purposes behind them, and how the funds will reach those who need them most,” Ejercito explained

“Rest assured that we will maintain transparency from the very beginning,” he noted.

Speaking on his promise of transparency, the senator called on civil society organizations to closely monitor and participate in the budget process.

In recent weeks, budget watchdogs like the People’s Budget Coalition (PBC) had flagged both the insertions and the overall process that was undertaken in crafting the House version of the budget.

Similar to Tinio, PBC identified billions of hard and soft pork amendments from the House and has also held out hope that the Senate would refine the issues that were identified.