MANILA(October 28) — Who benefits from more than P1 trillion in questioned spending additions to the House-approved P7.2-trillion 2027 national budget—and why are billions being cut from disaster preparedness and major railway projects to accommodate them?
The People’s Budget Coalition (PBC) raised these questions before the Senate committee on finance, flagging thousands of infrastructure projects and expanded discretionary aid allocations that it said warrant closer scrutiny.
The coalition cited P7.75 billion in cuts to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council fund, nearly P20 billion from the Metro Manila Subway, P15 billion from the North-South Commuter Railway and P27 billion from the Laguna Lakeshore Road project.
It also flagged around 7,000 infrastructure projects worth P190 billion, many of which it said lacked sufficient details, raising questions about project selection, transparency and the priorities guiding public spending.
What counts as a budget insertion?
Budget insertions generally refer to new spending allocations or increases to existing programs introduced during congressional deliberations, compared with the executive’s proposed National Expenditure Program (NEP). These may include new infrastructure projects, expanded assistance programs or additional funding for particular agencies and districts.
Such changes are not automatically illegal. The accountability questions concern whether the allocations are justified by public needs, supported by sufficient project details and distributed through transparent criteria.
Kenneth Isaiah Abante of PBC told senators that the House version increased funding for multipurpose buildings under the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) by P43 billion, including access roads and bridges under its basic infrastructure program.
Abante also cited P24-billion increases each for the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations (AICS) and the Department of Health’s Medical Assistance to Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients (MAIFIP). Another P10 billion was included for Presidential Assistance to Farmers and Fisherfolk (PAFF).
He said these additions came alongside reductions in transportation, health and disaster risk reduction spending.
“We don’t agree with the prioritization of the House for those multipurpose buildings, which we believe is not at all an urgent need of our citizens,” Abante said.
Watchdog identifies three types of questioned spending
PBC co-convenor AJ Montesa divided the coalition’s more than P1 trillion in flagged allocations into three categories: P695 billion in what it called “hard pork,” or politicized infrastructure; P210 billion in “soft pork,” or patronage-driven assistance; and P112 billion in “shadow pork” under unprogrammed appropriations.
The coalition included AICS, MAIFIP, PAFF, the Department of Labor and Employment’s Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD) and the Commission on Higher Education’s Tulong Dunong program among the discretionary assistance allocations it questioned.
PBC also criticized the proposed funding priorities for health assistance.
The subsidy for the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) was reduced from P129.8 billion in 2026 to P74.4 billion in the proposed NEP, while the House did not increase PhilHealth funding and instead doubled the MAIFIP allocation to P49.2 billion.
Montesa argued that MAIFIP’s reliance on guarantee letters could leave indigent patients dependent on political intervention to obtain medical assistance.
“The House wants us to get sick so we can beg them to pay for our hospital bills,” he said.
“Are we building a system that guarantees people their rights, or one that leaves them dependent on political favors?”
Thousands of infrastructure projects flagged
The DPWH budget accounted for much of the coalition’s infrastructure concerns. PBC identified 6,200 projects worth P172 billion in the department’s budget, most of them multipurpose buildings.
The group also flagged more than 180 health facilities worth P2 billion under the Department of Health, over 350 farm-
