Business Groups Demand Removal of P180 Billion Budget Insertions
Over 30 business and civil society groups are urging the Philippine government to remove unjustified insertions from the proposed P7.2-trillion 2027 national budget.
More than 30 business and civil society organizations, including the Makati Business Club and the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, are demanding that the Philippine Congress remove unjustified insertions from the proposed P7.2-trillion 2027 national budget.
The coalition expressed alarm after discovering that the Budget Amendments and Review Subcommittee added over P180 billion to the Department of Public Works and Highways budget. These funds were reportedly shifted from health programs, calamity funds, foreign-assisted projects, and the EDSA Busway. Critics describe these reallocations as a transfer of resources to the campaign trail in anticipation of an upcoming election year.
Further scrutiny from the People's Budget Coalition revealed a P4.38-billion windfall for the 1st District of Ilocos Norte, the bailiwick of House Majority Leader Ferdinand Alexander Araneta Marcos. The business groups argue that funding should be restricted to projects supported by detailed engineering designs and feasibility studies. They have urged the President to utilize his line-item veto to maintain fiscal prudence.
