Same old… same old…

As State of the Nation Addresses go, this one by BBM last Monday is par for the course. It told us nothing new about the state of our nation we aren’t sorry about. And there was no big vision. Only bits and pieces of unfinished business from the past.

But BBM started on the right note. He said the message the people expressed in the last election is clear to him. “Bigo at dismayado ang mga tao sa pamahalaan, lalo na sa mga pangunahing serbisyo.”

BBM is also right to observe that the economic indicators the economic managers are so proud of are not very meaningful if ordinary Filipinos are still struggling in their daily lives.

BBM went on to say that the lesson to him is simple: his administration must not only get things done right, they must be quick in delivering on the expectations of the people.

Then BBM went on to promise a long list of populist giveaways to sweeten his strained relationship with the people. Among these is the expansion of area coverage of the P20/kilo rice in Kadiwa Centers, free Love Bus service in key metro areas, free wifi, free dialysis (three times a week), more freebies to help farmers and many more.

BBM was not clear how all these freebies will be funded and presumably, he knows these populist ideas are not sustainable given our tight fiscal space. Could BBM be thinking of scrapping pork funds and cutting government waste to raise the funds he needs to win the people back?

BBM said that “for the 2026 National Budget, I will return any proposed General Appropriations Bill that is not fully aligned with the National Expenditure Program. And further, I am willing to do this even if we end up with a reenacted budget.”

Before we start dancing like drunken monkeys overjoyed that BBM has finally seen the problem, let us not forget that BBM was part of that problem over the last three years.

Last year was the worst. Congress moved large allocations for national interest projects from appropriated to unappropriated sections of the budget to provide fiscal space for pork barrel funding.

BBM signed off on the congressional highway robbery by failing to veto the pork funds the legislators inserted.

We also found out that Senate President Chiz Escudero carved out a P142.7-billion budget insertion to cover mostly flood control, roads, bridges, buildings and pumping stations. According to Sen. Panfilo Lacson, almost half of almost P2 trillion allocated for flood control since 2011 may have been lost to corruption.

The Escudero budget insertions included some P3 billion for Sen. Bong Go, who used the funds for projects to help win the number one slot among the senatorial winners. In street language, naisahan si BBM.

Chiz used his inserts to cement his hold on the Senate presidency and eventually dump the impeachment case against Sara Duterte. BBM says he has no interest in the impeachment case but that’s for PR optics. He would be dancing with joy if this one pain in his neck is properly disposed of.

According to former DOF Usec Cielo Magno, “This P142 billion budget is just the tip of the iceberg...You can see here that there is a severe reallocation of funds happening in bicam.”

How can this travesty happen without the blessing of BBM? It is difficult to believe that the Budget Secretary is not aware of how the congressmen and senators were mangling the budget.

Why didn’t the Budget Secretary alert BBM so that he could veto those insertions? BBM must have known but decided to play politics which unfortunately, blew up in his face.

Now BBM is saying he will veto sharp deviations from the budget draft they submitted to Congress. But the draft they submitted already repeated the travesty in the 2025 budget. The unappropriated portion includes what should have been in the regular portion of the budget.

One glaring omission in the SONA was BBM’s report on his meeting with Trump. According to Sec. Ralph Recto, the government is anticipating up to P6 billion in foregone revenues following its decision to grant zero tariffs on selected US products imported into the country.

It is still unclear if Trump understood that the zero tariff BBM agreed to give American exporters include all exports including agricultural products. If so, BBM must have a plan on how to save our farmers.

BBM talked about putting some 200 new power plants to help deal with brownouts and energize more communities. Since building power plants is the exclusive domain of the private sector, can BBM convince them to invest?

We do need a lot more megawatts of power if we are to satisfy the power thirst of data centers that are now being built. The power demand of data centers will aggravate our low supply and demand balance and that will raise power rates for everyone.

The big positive of BBM’s SONA last Monday is that we know he knows what our problems are. Can he act fast?

Sue all the corrupt officials and contractors responsible for faulty or non-existent flood control projects. Get Villar’s water companies to shape up and provide adequate service to their consumers.

SONAs in this country have not changed much through the years. We have heard the same old promise to fight corruption, same old drive for economic reform, same old plans to build infrastructure, same old promise to fight poverty. Unfortunately, we never had the kind of leadership capable of delivering.

Will BBM who says he knows what the problem is, break from the past and start delivering on hopes and promises?

Only three years left. We should see a frenzy of activities. Every official should be an energizer bunny like Vince Dizon. But based on experience and BBM’s laid-back nature, don’t hold your breath.

Boo Chanco’s email address is [email protected]. Follow him on X @boochanco