The current deadlock in the bicameral conference committee over the proposed 2026 national budget is plain and simple about pork, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) said.
The group said that the stalemate in the deliberations of the proposed 2026 national budget is about how much can be skimmed off the bloated budget of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
“The Lower House and Executive Department’s insistence on restoring the P54-billion cut proposed by the Senate can be summed up this way: a higher DPWH budget means higher kickbacks, or so-called SOPs, for legislators and executive officials,” BAYAN in a statement said.
The third round of deliberations by the House of Representatives (HOR) and the Senate started three hours late on Tuesday, only to withdrew to separate closed door meetings.
Sen. Francis Pangilinan later told reporters that the delay was due to “the late analysis of the newly transmitted data from the DPWH.”
Pangilinan said the DPWH is still in the process of “recomputing” the cost of construction materials in its budget that investigations reveal are one of the ways that kickbacks are obtained.
“We’re waiting for that, because that will give us an idea of what the actual cost is. Instead of a full restoration of the budget being requested, the restoration will be based on the price that will be obtained,” said Pangilinan.
BAYAN said the difficulty in unifying versions of the national budget stems from the fierce resistance by the HOR contingent to reduce DPWH’s proposed budget by 25% or P54 billion.
“Such a cut directly translates to reduced kickbacks. That, and not the concern for public welfare, is the crux of the issue as far as many legislators are concerned,” the group said.
It pointed out that as early as the National Expenditure Program (NEP) stage, legislators reportedly receive advance payments for kickbacks tied to infrastructure projects.
These SOPs – ranging from 20 to 25 percent – are computed based on the project cost as reflected in the NEP, the General Appropriations Bills (GABs) approved by both Houses, and ultimately the enacted General Appropriations Act (GAA).
“The bicam deadlock exposes the entrenched pork barrel system that continues to drain public funds meant for genuine infrastructure and social services. It also confirms that corruption is not an aberration but a structural feature of the current budget-making process,” BAYAN said.
BAYAN calls on the Senate to stand its ground and refuse to buckle under pressure from pork-hungry legislators.
It also urged Senate to push for cuts to other pork barrel allocations, including the P45 billion Strengthening Assistance for Government Infrastructure and Social Programs (SAGIP) program, which it removed from Unprogrammed Appropriations of the 2026 general appropriations bill.
“Better yet, just remove the entire section on Unprogrammed Appropriations which is nothing but presidential pork,” BAYAN challenged.
“The Senate must prove whether it stands with the people or with the pork barrel system that has long plagued our country,” it added. # (Raymund B. Villanueva, in Kathmandu, Nepal)
