You can’t fool all of the people all of the time

As details of the 2025 National Budget came out, various sectors started calling it as a budget for members of Congress and not for the Philippines. First point made against the budget is that it violated the Constitution that states that the biggest allocation should be to education. Instead, it went to the DPWH.

Aside from robbing Filipino students the right to quality education and their future, Congress went on to rob Filipinos of quality medicine and facilities. While everybody has been focusing on PhilHealth, everyone has forgotten about all the cuts that have continuously been done to improvement and expansion of major hospitals etc.

So now we have a situation where President Bongbong Marcos has “Had to step up and promise to restore the allocations for the DepEd” and perhaps DOH/ PhilHealth. But did he really have to step up or was it all part of a “zarzuela” or PR script that makes the President the guy who saves the day?

I know that in past administrations, there were people from Malacañang who monitor such things and advised the incumbent president on how things are going in the budget hearings. In some cases, things are even cleared or consulted with Malacañang. So how is it possible that members of Congress could simply butcher the government’s proposed budget that is based on the 2025 program of government, slice and dice the allocations and then rewrite the funding priority?

Given that practically 99 percent of members of Congress are with the President’s party in some form or another, how could such a twisted and unconstitutional budget be passed without PBBM actually knowing the contents thereof? Was it a case of “Baka Maka Lusot” or hoping to get away with it, or something turned into a perfect opportunity to make the President look good?

Either way, the situation seriously makes the President look weak and bad. Weak because the budget submitted for his signature is an insult to his plans and programs for 2025 as well as evidence that the priorities of the Executive department are not the priorities of congress.

Instead of giving his administration the money and support that it needs, Congress meddled and interfered in priority setting which was the President’s domain. The unconstitutional redirect and reprioritization of funds forced PBBM to act on a matter that should not have happened at all.

The budget is also an “In Your Face” insult to all the hard work of his cabinet secretaries and their respective departments that have spent months of preparation, weeks defending their programs and funding requirement only to end up with a “politically motivated budget” designed to win votes. As some critics have stated, the 2025 Budget is a legally legislated form of vote buying.

It is about time that President Bongbong Marcos flexed his muscles and put an end to the “culture of suspicion” that Congress utilizes in reviewing the proposed budget of the Executive Department. The job of Congress at most is to review and recommend but not conduct what is the equivalent of “The Inquisition” and a biased opinion about every budget.

It is also high time for the President to gather the leaders of Congress and Malacañang and address the malicious practice of using Budget hearings as an event to “pick and choose” funds that favor Congressional districts and programs over national programs or to make “unprogrammed insertions” in the budget.

The young Turkeys in Congress defend the budget by stating that respective departments will still be in control of the disbursement. That is a lame assurance of integrity and accountability. Congress simply concentrated huge sums of money to departments and agencies that are directly linked to Congressional districts that have allocation or shares. So, now it is “the more the merrier” in allocation and potential consumption.

More money for DPWH-related projects per Congressional district. So more roads will surely be ripped up in 2025 in order for new roads to be built. More modern guard rails and millions of cat’s eye reflectors will be installed that will surely be overpriced by more than ten times. At the very least give us some benefit like better quality roads, better designed bridges instead of the Sta. Monica bridge that is Anti-Pedestrian. Give us well-lit roads using solar streetlights!

More money for DSWD in LGUs. More tents, more food packs more caravans all providing advertising and promotion space for the local congressman. Yes, there will be a spending spree, yes there will be more facilities in such projects, but soon there will be more than is needed.

As an example, think of the cities and barangays in Metro Manila that collect so many revenues. With money coming out of their ears, they have to spend these on high rise buildings, renovations, gates, shiny ambulances every year, high-end service vehicles, sending personnel here and everywhere for trainings, etc. Conducting team building events in Boracay, Baguio, etc. Check their salary levels and you will probably cry in envy and that does not even include monthly bonuses.

The difference with cities and barangays is that they earned the money from their own locality. They are not necessarily robbing Juan so Pedro can enjoy life or enrich himself. The National Budget concerns all, affects all, and is paid by those of us who pay taxes. Unlike rich cities and barangays that have excess, the National Budget is a limited resource that should not be disproportionately spent to the advantage of Congressional district.

Tama Na Sobra Na!

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