Cardinal David urges Senate to remove budget insertions

Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David has called for the removal of insertions made by members of the House of Representatives in the proposed 2027 national budget.

David made the call as the P7.2-trillion budget proposal, approved by the House, undergoes scrutiny in the Senate.

“The ball is now in the Senate’s court,” David said.

“It must exercise its constitutional responsibility to scrutinize and remove insertions that cannot be properly justified and documented,” he added.

If the budget insertions survive Congress, David said, “the President must exercise his power of veto.”

Recently, the People’s Budget Coalition (PBC) presented findings before the Senate showing that nearly 7,000 infrastructure projects worth P190 billion had been inserted into the House-approved version of the 2027 budget without publicly available supporting project documents.

“They are deeply disturbing,” David said of the findings.

Although these findings do not establish that corruption occurred, David stressed that “the House leadership, which approved this version of the national budget, owes the public an explanation.”

“Has the House of Representatives learned nothing from the flood control corruption scandal?” the prelate asked.

“The country has yet to see full accountability for that scandal, and already we are being warned about the possible repetition of the same questionable practices in other government agencies!” he added.

Meanwhile, David praised citizen volunteers, whom he calls “Angry Nerds,” for scrutinizing the proposed budget.

“They remind us that democracy is not merely about electing representatives every three years,” David said.

“It is about citizens remaining vigilant and holding their representatives accountable between elections,” he added.