Big business groups air concern about electioneering
Several business groups and nongovernment organizations on Wednesday reiterated the call for transparency in the government’s 2025 budget, urging the president to classify all Congress-introduced allocations for disbursement after the midterm elections.
“We call for action on the part of the executive, first, to consider the recommendation of former Senate President Frank Drilon to classify all Congress-introduced amendments in the 2025 budget as ‘for later release,’ so that these amendments will not be used for electioneering,” read the joint letter.
The letter was signed by Makati Business Club, Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines, FinTech Alliance PH, Justice Reform Initiative, Management Association of the Philippines, Philippine Business for Social Progress and University of the Philippines School of Economics Alumni Association.
The groups also called for reforms in the budget process so as to avoid unnecessary insertion in the government’s annual expenditure plan.
“This budget was substantially changed by the bicameral committee. They significantly reduced allocations for programmed health care, social services and education projects, by over P200 billion,” the groups said.
“In place of these programmed projects, the bicameral committee inserted local infrastructure projects and types of unconditional cash transfers which, we believe, promote a culture of patronage and dependency,” they added.
The signatory organizations said they believe that these types of programs are vulnerable to politicization, raising their concerns on pork barrel practices amid the upcoming elections.
It noted that such practice had been ruled as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in the Priority Development Assistance Fund case.
Despite the criticisms, the groups said they recognized and valued the President’s veto of P26 billion out of the P289 billion worth of congressional insertions into the budget of the Department of Public Works and Highways.
“But given the amounts involved, the current state of the 2025 General Appropriations Act still does not address both the short- and long-term needs of the Filipino people, especially given that many key social services remain defunded,” the groups said.
In conclusion, they recommended transparency in deliberation of Congress’ bicameral conference committee.
“The bicameral process is conducted behind closed doors. The records of the discussions
must be released and made accessible to the public, to ensure transparency and accountability,” said.
Additionally, they also called on the government to support conditional cash transfers (Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program or 4Ps) instead of instituting and expanding unconditional cash transfers. They also sought citizen participation in the Development Budget Coordination Committee.
