DESPITE widespread clamor from the people of Panay and across the Philippines, the House of Representatives approved the P6.793-trillion 2026 national budget, becoming a rubber stamp for presidential pork barrel items totaling P281 billion.
The bulk of this, P243 billion, is in Unprogrammed Appropriations, a notorious lump sum historically used to fund flood control projects and even the Jalaur Mega Dam project, as approved by none other than President Marcos Jr. himself.
Additionally, presidential pork barrel allocations include P10.9 billion in Confidential and Intelligence Funds, solely at the president’s discretion.
Moreover, the House merely realigned flood control allocations to other pork-riddled infrastructure projects, enriching legislators, executive appointees, and private contractors. The 2026 national budget subjects the construction of health facilities, school buildings, farm-to-market roads, and irrigation projects, as well as the distribution of cash assistance programs, to the discretionary powers of House members and senators, guaranteeing at least P 415 billion for legislative pork barrel. As per Koalisyong Makabayan’s data, each representative will receive a minimum of P230 million, while each senator will get a staggering P3.2 billion.
The House-approved budget does little to address classroom backlogs, severely limited hospital capacities, and ailing public transportation systems in Panay. Instead, it leaves public utilities like water, electricity, and markets neglected, vulnerable to capture by big private corporations, and holds social services hostage to patronage politics before reaching the intended beneficiaries.
In addition to securing pork barrel allocations for the president and other officials in the executive and legislative branches, the House endorsed “general’s pork” in the form of the P8 billion Barangay Development Program under NTF-ELCAC. It also guaranteed funding for the fascist state forces to conduct focused military operations, deceptive civil-military activities, and joint military drills with foreign troops on Panay Island.
We express our utter disappointment at legislators representing the legislative districts all over Panay for consenting to a national budget that fails to serve the needs of their constituents. We commend representatives from the Makabayan coalition, who tirelessly exposed the anti-people nature of the proposed budget and remained steadfast as the oppressed sectors’ voices in Congress, casting a ‘No’ vote during the final reading.
After this display of callous disregard for public accountability, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan-Panay calls on all citizens to intensify the struggle against the prevailing bureaucrat-capitalist system. Let us demonstrate our resistance through various forms of support, participate in youth- and peasant-led protests, and continue building toward the next wave of mass mobilizations against systemic corruption in government. – BAGONG ALYANSANG MAKABAYAN- PANAY (bayanpanay2014@gmail.com)
