A budget by dynasties, for dynasties

In my column last week, I stated that our political leaders and the political system they created have failed us. And for as long as the current political system remains in force with the same cast of political actors, the country will continue to lag behind our peers in most aspects of development. The 2025 national budget perfectly substantiates my assertions.

Congressmen more than doubled their budget, giving themselves an increase of P17.37 billion while the Senate gave themselves an increase of P1.1 billion. They did this while reducing the allocations for our basic needs.

What is even more contemptible is that they gave themselves the power to disburse social development funds. How did they do this? They reduced the budget of the DSWD by P96 billion and set up a budget of P36 billion for Congress and P15 billion for the Senate so they can distribute “ayuda” themselves. In effect, taxpayers’ money will fund their re-election campaigns and “vote buying” operations. Worse, they manipulated the Malasakit program of the DOH such that it now requires an endorsement of a local politician before benefits can be released. Both schemes promote political patronage as politicians fashion themselves as “saviors,” leveraging on the people’s desperation.

Congress knowingly defied the Constitution by not appropriating the largest appropriation to education but giving the lion’s share to the DPWH. Of course, a large chunk of DPWH’s budget will be spent on flood control, which we all know is another source of pork. The kickbacks for flood control can reach 70 percent.

At a time when our young learners are already the least intelligent in the world and are in desperate need to catch up, Congress and Malacañang reduced the DepEd’s budget by P12 billion and channeled it to themselves, albeit indirectly.

At a time when public health care is virtually non-existent, Congress and Malacañang removed the allocation to PhilHealth, even if doing so is a violation of the Constitution. Instead of allocating funds to PhilHealth, they put the P74 billion at their disposal.

At a time when the country faces a security crisis with China’s intensifying aggression in the West Philippine Sea, Congress and Malacañang reduced the budget of AFP’s modernization program by P15 billion. Our politicians prioritized their greed over the nation’s defense. In my book, this is treasonous.

PBBM made a big show of vetoing P194 billion, or three percent, out of the budget. Big deal. The spirit of the budget remains the same. It was crafted by dynasties, for dynasties. They have taken the first and biggest bite.

The P6.235-trillion budget and the avalanche of funds our politicians awarded to themselves come amid a budget deficit of 5.6 percent of GDP (as of October 2024). The 2025 deficits will be financed by even more public debt.

We are betrayed

It appears that Malacañnag, Congress and the Senate conspired to use our hard-earned taxes to keep the current crop of elected officials in power, to help them expand their dynasties and to make them wealthier than they already are. I feel betrayed, just like millions of other Filipinos.

Our political leaders have handsomely helped themselves to the country’s resources while government is unable to feed the poorest among us, unable to provide decent shelter for 6.5 million households and unable to credibly defend our borders. Our politicians satiate their ravenous greed while making the public live with the barest minimum of services and social safety nets. The shamelessness is appalling.

I expected more from PBBM, Speaker Martin Romualdez and Senate President Chiz Escudero, all of whom represent the brightest among us, having studied abroad and in the University of the Philippines. In the end, they are all the same…. arguably even worse, since they had the final say on the budget. Evidently, the gluttonous greed of old dynasties are alive and well.

My regular readers know that I have always tried to be optimistic about the country’s future. I hinged my optimism on good economic fundamentals. But good fundamentals will only take us so far. Inequity and stunted development will continue to fester due to corruption and the weakening of our institutions. Just look at the state of the justice system, the state of agriculture and manufacturing, the state of education, health care and defense, the state of infrastructure, the state of the rule of law. These institutions have eroded to a state of malfunction under the leadership of dynasties.

The Philippines is arguably the world’s greatest underachiever and dynasties, past and present, are responsible for it. Our level of economic competitiveness and level of per capita income speak for themselves.

There is no hope to catch up with our neighbors without drastic change in our political system and the cast of elected officials. I realize this is a big statement… but what our political leaders have done with the 2025 budget speaks volumes about their values, priorities and the extent they are willing to go to retain power. The silver lining is that more and more people are voicing out their dissatisfaction.

The only way out is a political reset, beginning with electoral reforms. Political dynasties should NOT have the unfair privilege of using government funds and machinery for their respective campaigns. The field should be leveled for all aspiring political leaders.

We must also weed out the intellectually challenged and the criminal. Aspiring elected officials should be required to pass an IQ, critical reasoning and abstract thinking test. If ordinary employees in the private sector must pass aptitudes tests, all the more for public servants. Most importantly, strict ethics standards must be imposed.

The quality of our political leaders must change if the quality of governance is to improve. The status quo is a race to the bottom.

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Email: [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @aj_masigan