Stopping thievery

With the thievery designed into the 2025 national budget being partly blamed for the Alyansa election debacle, President Marcos reportedly intends to closely monitor the bicameral conference on the 2026 outlay, short of sitting in on the proceedings.

The bicam is where all the creative insertions and hocus-pocus on the proposed National Expenditure Program (NEP) take place, with zero transparency and public accountability.

We can’t expect much from the reelected lawmakers, most of whom failed to defend taxpayers from the institutionalized thievery. But perhaps many of the newbies in the incoming 20th Congress will support efforts to end the secrecy in the bicam. Why should deliberations on the utilization of trillions in people’s money be done behind closed doors?

When the dishonorable members of the 19th Congress particularly the bicam finalized this year’s outlay, the NEP – so painstakingly prepared by executive departments and agencies – was almost unrecognizable.

BBM, a former senator and congressman, is familiar with the budget process. So it’s good if he will brush aside concerns about his in-person presence at the bicam and at least drop in during the budget deliberations. Even for five minutes, just to ensure that the locks are securely in place to keep out thieves.

The 19th Congress was doing a good job of highlighting the atrocities in Rodrigo Duterte’s brutal war on drugs as well as the misuse of confidential funds by Sara Duterte as vice president and secretary of education.

Against the backdrop of those accusations, it was relatively easy for the House super majority to sell the idea that the VP deserved to be impeached.

The probes also came on the heels of the exposure of the criminal activities related to Philippine offshore gaming operations, which proliferated during the Duterte administration. As unearthed by the congressional probes, POGO money likely helped Alice Guo fake her Philippine citizenship and become mayor of Bamban, Tarlac.

All of these developments that were generally positive for the administration and its allies went down the drain when the scandal erupted over the 2025 General Appropriations Act.

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Between the amounts of confidential funds that VP Sara is accused of misusing, and the billions realigned to the latest incarnations of the congressional pork barrel – the unprogrammed appropriations and various tax-funded ayuda programs – the loser in the narrative war was a foregone conclusion.

Those behind the budget thievery were still fumbling for their alibis when the International Criminal Court ordered the arrest of Rodrigo Duterte.

With the thousands killed in Duterte’s brutal drug crackdown, and what has been unearthed in the congressional probes, it says a lot about the disastrous messaging of the administration that the Dutertes were the ones who emerged as the victims in that episode, with the belligerent VP Sara coming off as an aggrieved, loving daughter.

Whether the ongoing government shakeup can put Marcos 2.0 back on solid footing will depend on how bold the reset will be.

More than a government reorganization, BBM must restore public trust in the budget process. Whoever will be chosen to head the Senate and the House of Representatives must put an end to business as usual in the bicam.

It’s a national tragedy that senators and congressmen need to be watched like bratty children grabbing everything from the cookie jar to stuff their faces.

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BBM can consider proposals to have all forms of aid programs kept off the dirty paws of politicians and political wannabes in government, and consolidated under the depoliticized conditional cash transfer, the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program.

The 4Ps, designed with the help of the World Bank based on best practices in implementing similar projects in other countries, releases cash handouts to beneficiaries through ATMs. No chance for politicians’ credit-grabbing or epal moments there.

Potential 4Ps beneficiaries are screened by personnel of the Department of Social Welfare and Development. When the program was launched by the DSWD over a decade ago based on the Brazilian model, its biggest supporter the World Bank had warned that it would pull out its funding support if politicians were given a say in the selection of beneficiaries.

Over the years there have been complaints of barangay officials getting involved in the selection, and delisting beneficiaries who would not support the barangay officials’ candidates during elections. But DSWD officials maintain that the department retains full control of the selection and “graduation” of beneficiaries from the 4Ps.

The DSWD may be telling the truth, since the 19th Congress slashed a hefty P50 billion from this year’s budget for the 4Ps. Instead the thieves allocated P26 billion for the Ayuda para sa Kapos ang Kita Program. AKAP was not even in the NEP for 2025. Sen. Grace Poe infamously revealed that congressmen were allocated P21 billion for AKAP earmarking and senators P5 billion.

All medical assistance programs including the Malasakit centers, which are part of the DSWD’s Assistance for Individuals in Crisis Situations, must also be consolidated under the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. and Universal Health Care program.

Surely it’s not rocket science to streamline the system of availment of state health insurance coverage so that people need not turn to politicians for “guarantee letters” or GL endorsing beneficiaries to PhilHealth-accredited hospitals.

Dr. Jose Rene de Grano, president of the Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines, told “Storycon” on One News last week that processing of PHAPI claims from PhilHealth is faster when there is a GL from a politician. But why should this be so? Does the government move efficiently only when pushed by politicians?

Politicizing health care has its risks. PHAPI is now worried that some P14 billion in claims by several of its members may not be paid because the politicians who issued the GLs lost in the elections. Such is the cost of injecting politics into state-funded programs.

The ongoing government recalibration is supposed to lead to positive changes and, according to Malacañang, an end to business as usual. Marcos 2.0 should go beyond cosmetic changes and include bold systemic reforms.