Unraveling quickens

Sectoral groups have stepped up the pressure on Congress to clean up the budget process and dismantle the pork barrel system, intensifying their campaign as lawmakers prepare to deliberate on the proposed 2027 national budget.

A week before the budget debate, business and civil society groups called on Congress to strip the spending plan of all insertions without technical justification and eliminate questionable allocations and backdoor maneuvering in support of political patronage ahead of the 2028 elections.

Budget watchdogs have identified an estimated P427 billion in appropriations in the proposed 2027 national budget as vulnerable to a hard and soft pork barrel, warning that even social protection programs could be exploited to advance political interests.

One group said the situation had gone from “mahiya naman kayo” (have some shame) to “wala na talaga silang hiya” (they truly have no shame), referring to the billions of pesos allocated to programs susceptible to abuse.

Among the allocations flagged by the group were the P221.07 billion for the Basic Infrastructure Program of the Department of Public Works and Highways; P61.62 billion for the Local Government Support Fund, excluding P1 billion for Participatory Budgeting Support for local government units; P58.09 billion for the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development; and P48.2 billion for the Medical Assistance for Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients program of the Department of Health.

The other suspicious items were the P18.88 billion for the Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers program of the Department of Labor and Employment; P10 billion for the Presidential Assistance for Farmers and Fisherfolk; P7.41 billion for the Training for Work Scholarship Program and Special Training for Employment Program of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority; and P1.77 billion for the Tulong Dunong Program of the Commission on Higher Education.

The sectoral groups challenged the House version of the P7.2-trillion budget, which passed on third reading 281 to 13, but with P180 billion more added for the DPWH by the Budget Amendments and Review Subcommittee.

Budget watchdogs said these additions covered 6,212 projects, which raised the DPWH’s project count in the National Expenditure Program to 16,270, with many appearing as lump sums without project lists or named proponents.

The groups also objected to how the additions would be paid for, taking P130 billion from foreign-assisted projects, P9.5 billion from calamity funds, P1.76 billion from the EDSA Busway, and P4.9 billion from health programs.

Foreign-assisted projects are the government’s best option because they include feasibility studies, financing commitments, and international procurement rules, and they are most economical when implemented wisely.

Insertions in the 2023 to 2025 budgets were linked to ghost and substandard flood control projects, which the groups said betrayed the public trust and left communities exposed to floods.

Philippine society has felt this kind of unease before. Throughout much of the 1970s, many Manila-based business executives accepted martial law in the hope that it would bring order, while trade groups generally avoided open confrontation with the Palace.

That accommodation began to unravel after Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. was assassinated at the Manila airport on 21 August 1983. His killing triggered widespread uncertainty, rattled investor confidence, and prompted businesses to pull their money out of the country.

Capital left the country in large amounts, the peso fell, and the government, which had borrowed heavily through the 1970s for projects such as the Bataan nuclear plant, announced in October 1983 that it could not pay its foreign debts on schedule.

During the final years of the Marcos dictatorship, private misgivings turned into public action as the growing perception spread that the economy was being run for friends and cronies.

The parallel lies in the source of the anxiety. In both periods, the public saw public funds handled without transparent accounting and businessmen feared that a government unable to explain its spending could not be trusted to protect their investments.

The multisectoral petition comes as the 2027 budget can still be amended, with the Senate finance panel, chaired by JV Ejercito, and the bicameral conference committee yet to complete their review.

Whether or not Congress heeds the writing on the wall will show if it has learned from history.