Over the years, lawmakers have mastered the art of bastardizing the budget, the most important piece of legislation that Congress passes every year. Based on how they mangled the 2023 to 2025 budgets, it would appear that the present crop of legislators has outdone all past congresses in terms of the enormity of the amount and degree of shamelessness in abusing their power of the purse.
The first time I heard of the term budget insertions was about 30 years ago, during the Ramos administration. It referred to funding provisions for projects or programs identified by congressmen in the General Appropriations Bill. The insertions were over and above what was then called the Countrywide Development Fund.
The final shape of the 2025 budget will be a test of the Marcos administration's adherence to the principles of transparency and accountability and his declared policy of prudent spending. Can he pass the test?
Education Secretary Sonny Angara said the classroom shortage nationwide cannot be addressed using the DepEd’s regular budget alone.
During a committee hearing on the OVP's budget on Sept. 6, Angara uttered: "Does Congress still have the power of the purse? I'm not so sure. Anyway, that's a separate debate."
The proposed 2024 budget shows the administration's priorities for spending: a 58% increase in the president's travel funds, while the agriculture sector gets a measly 6% more than its budget this year.
Because the administration's allies have the numbers — a supermajority, in fact — Duterte can spend the OVP budget however she wants to. That's their version of democracy.
Sinabi ni Pangulong Ferdinand Marcos Jr. na ang kanyang administrasyon ay naglalagay ng "patuloy na tulong" para sa proteksyong panlipunan at kabuhayan "sa tuktok" ng listahan ng prayoridad nito. Ito ay nangangailangan ng konteksto.
Although the Marcos administration placed “social protection” as one of its budget priorities for “human capital development,” Sonny Africa, executive director of the nonprofit IBON Foundation, noted that the total allocation for these programs in 2023 is P33.28 billion less than the P262.67 billion for 2022.
Ang pahayag ni Pangulong Ferdinand Marcos Jr. kamakailan tungkol sa pagbibigay ng perang ayuda at subsidies sa gitna ng COVID-19 pandemic ay sumasalungat sa pananaw ni Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno sa usapin.
