Drilon raises alarm on unchecked pork barrel

MANILA, Philippines — Former Senate president Franklin Drilon raised alarm over the staggering P731.4 billion in pork barrel allocations across 2024 and 2025, a massive amount that has largely remained unchecked.

Drilon challenged the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to disclose the billions of pesos worth of Congress-introduced amendments in the 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA).

He said the P731.4 billion comprises P449 billion in pork barrel funds from the 2024 GAA and an additional P347 billion in the 2025 GAA.

“You know, I’ve been a senator for 24 years. It’s only now that I’ve seen pork barrels that big. It’s monstrous,” Drilon said in a radio interview.

“This is a staggering amount of public funds that the public needs to check. Taxpayers have a right to know where their money is being spent, especially when it comes to allocations as large as this,” Drilon said.

He pointed out that implementation remains a significant challenge, while the DBM clarified that any increase in appropriations and new budgetary items introduced in the 2025 national budget would only be released once the concerned agencies comply with necessary requirements.

“The problem is, how do we know if these requirements are being followed? It is not clear and not visible to the public,” he said.

Without transparency in the specific requirements and processes involved, the public cannot scrutinize whether these provisions are being followed.

“My challenge to DBM: publish all the insertions and pork barrel subjects for later release,” Drilon said. “I’m not saying it’s bad. All I’m saying is, tell the people what was added.”

Drilon had previously criticized the President’s decision not to veto these amendments, describing the veto of some unprogrammed funds as “cosmetic,” as pork barrel allocations remain intact.

Drilon had earlier called on the President to ensure that all Congress-introduced amendments in the 2025 GAA are classified as “for later release” to prevent potential misuse for election-related activities.

As a senator, Drilon made public his amendments in the budget. He pointed out the challenges in scrutinizing budget documents, which are often thousands of pages long and difficult for the public to access and understand.