The budget: a lethal weapon of political destruction

Budgets can make or unmake the nation. It can help, prevent, or derail a political ambition. The budget can be a weapon of political destruction.

The Department of Budget has packaged the 2025 National Appropriation like a campaign slogan: "Agenda For Prosperity: Fulfilling The Needs and Aspirations of the Filipino People". Well, this is an election year, and the party in power is fielding candidates for 18,271 positions that are up for grabs. If you say that the party in power is not going to use this to push their candidacy, I shall tell you: Tell that to the marines.

This is an election year budget, and administration candidates are going to use the money to promote their partisan agenda. The DSWD, the DPWH, the DILG and the other frontline agencies will definitely be used to favor the candidates of the administration. The Comelec announced that the following positions shall be contested: 12 for senators, 254 members of the House, 63 party list representatives, 82 governors and 82 vice governors, 792 provincial board members, 149 city mayors and 149 city vice mayors, 1582 city councilors, 1,493 town mayors and 1,493 town vice mayors, 11,948 town councilors, 32 members of the BARMM parliament, and 40 BARMM partylist representatives. Don't tell me that the national budget for 2025 is not designed to favor the candidates of the party in power.

The DBM’s briefer for the 2025 national budget honestly makes and admission that this budget is designed "to support the PBBM administration's goal of economic and social transformation" and claims that the ?6.352 trillion budget "was carefully and meticulously crafted to meet the objectives of the Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028." The briefer also avers that this budget "builds on the gains (what gains?) of the first two years of the administration", supposedly "sustaining momentum in pursuit of a prosperous, inclusive, and resilient Philippines, where all Filipinos can fulfill their individual and shared aspirations." If that does not sound a campaign slogan to you, I don't what does.

Based on these motherhood statements, the budget allocations follow: Education, including Dep-Ed, CHED, TESDA, and state universities and colleges, ?977.6B; Public Works (DPWH), ?900B; DOH (zero subsidy for PhilHealth), ?297.6B; DILG, ?278.4B; Defense, DND, ?256.1B; Social Welfare, ?230.1B; Agriculture, DA, ?211.3B; Transportation, DOTr, ?180.9B; Judiciary, ?63.6B; and Justice, DOJ, ?40.6B. Of course, there is a big difference between what was originally proposed by the president through the DBM, on the one hand, and what was finally approved by the Senate, the Lower House, and lastly by the bicam, on the other hand.

One very significant cut that the House did was the ?1.29 billion budget reduction of the Office of the Vice President. The OVP's budget for 2025 is only ?733 million, which includes ?30 million contingency for inflation. The very large cut was triggered by the vice president's alleged inability to explain how she made use of her supposed confidential funds both as vice president and as DepEd secretary. These were supposedly revealed during the Quadcomm committee investigations which allegedly ended with plans to file administrative, civil, and criminal charges against the vice president, as well as alleged impeachment.

It can thus be said that if the majority party has an axe to grind against a political rival, the budget can be used as a weapon of massive destruction. And this is not unique to the Philippines. Even the US and some European governments have done such a political strategy and tactic.

If you say, we are talking nonsense, I shall succinctly reply to your face: I was not born yesterday. I can cite a long array of precedents.