Groups flag P633 billion corruption risk in bicam-approved 2026 budget

Multisectoral groups on Monday raised their recommendations on the P6.793-trillion national budget approved by the bicameral for 2026, following their concerns on the P633 billion worth of projects at risk for corruption and patronage.

“We recommend that the President take action on more than P633 billion worth of projects at risk of corruption and patronage in the bicam version of the budget,” the Roundtable for Inclusive Development (RFID) and People’s Budget Coalition (PBC) said in a joint statement.

Both chambers of Congress separately ratified the bicameral conference committee report on the proposed national budget for 2026 on Monday.

The first recommendation filed by the groups highlights vetoing unprogrammed appropriations, also known as “shadow pork,” worth P243 billion, in addition to removing the P43 billion SAGIP program, which was said to previously used to fund anomalous flood control projects.

The groups defined shadow pork as funds that “sit outside the regular budget framework” and are often used in the previous years in “risky” infrastructure projects due to their minimal transparency or legislative scrutiny upon release.

“Special provisions on unprogrammed appropriations had violated specific provisions in the PDAF ruling of the Supreme Court,” the civil groups said.

“The constitutionality of unprogrammed appropriations itself is an issue, as Congress artificially increases the budget ceiling set by the President, required under the Constitution; it also violates separation of powers and non-delegability of the legislative power of the purse,” they added.

The groups also promoted transforming the patronage-driven assistance or ayuda worth P210 billion into “rights-based and rules-based programs”, in consultation with allied health professionals and social protection experts, along with the P11 billion worth of confidential and intelligence funds (CIF).

According to the groups, soft pork is composed of aid programs at risk of political patronage because it leads citizens to “beg” politicians for assistance.

“Politicians must be excluded from the process of selecting beneficiaries, prevalent under the inhumane and unconstitutional guarantee letter system that encourages post-enactment intervention by legislators in the budget,” they said.

“We are alarmed that the bicameral conference committee nearly tripled soft pork to P210 billion compared to the President’s proposed budget,” they added.

The last recommendation mentioned involved placing the P600 billion-worth of infrastructure projects under a multisectoral citizen monitoring initiative funded by the government or internationally funded independent research programs.

The 2025 national budget faced heightened public scrutiny after several budget allocations and congressional insertions had been discovered, sparking multiple rallies nationwide for transparency and accountability.

“As citizens, we remain committed to working with you to monitor the budget process so that every taxpayer peso benefits our nation,” they said.  “Buwis natin ito, budget natin ito [This is our taxes, this is our budget].”— Almira Louise S. Martinez