Lawmaker bares ‘padding’ in past budgets to hide insertions
A House lawmaker observed a pattern of “padding” in some line items listed under the government’s proposed National Expenditure Program (NEP) that were later cut, saying these could have paved the way for congressional insertions following revisions to the budget.
At a congressional briefing on Monday on the proposed spending plan for 2027, ACT Teachers Rep. Antonio Tinio said that foreign-assisted projects under the transportation and public works departments may have been used to carve out space to reallocate funds totaling tens to hundreds of billions of pesos in the General Appropriations Acts (GAAs) dating back to 2023.
“I have noticed a pattern, or should I say a modus, of padding under the NEP… of certain items,” Tinio told lawmakers. He pointed to “sizable allotments over the years” that shrank in GAAs, adding, “We think this is what enabled massive insertions.”
The proposed P7.2-trillion budget for 2027 has been handed over to Congress, where lawmakers are tasked to review, revise and reconcile at their discretion the spending plan prepared by the executive branch.
Congressional insertions, however, have long plagued the national budget. These have also been linked to corruption as shown in the flood control controversy.
Foreign-assisted projects
“The pattern over the years is that the amount submitted under the NEP is sizable, which is then subsequently reduced in the GAA,” Tinio said.
He presented foreign-assisted projects under the Department of Transportation that were allotted P135.84 billion in the executive’s 2026 proposal but later reduced by 52.84 percent to P64.07 billion in the enacted budget.
The same pattern was noted in 2025 as the proposed P122.6-billion budget was slashed by 83.15 percent to P20.66 billion, and again in 2024, as the P161.34-billion original proposal was reduced by 97.83 percent to P3.5 billion.
Foreign‑funded projects under the Department of Public Works and Highways likewise encountered similar cuts, Tinio said. In 2026, P100 billion in the NEP was cut by 82.30 percent to P17.69 billion, while in 2025, the proposed P70.70-billion budget was reduced by 67.47 percent to P23 billion.
In 2024, the P70.70-billion proposal was wiped out entirely.
Acting Budget Secretary Kim Robert de Leon acknowledged the steep spending cuts at the briefing, saying it was one of the reasons for delays in the implementation of foreign-assisted projects.
