THE presidential palace on Monday sought to assure the public that the Marcos administration would strictly manage the 2026 national budget, after mounting concerns over congressional insertions and alleged irregularities in infrastructure spending.
“The public can be assured that the 2026 budget will be managed properly, and the President will not allow anomalous projects,” Palace Press Officer Clarissa A. Castro told a news briefing in Filipino.
She added that President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. wants to ensure funds are allocated to priority programs that directly benefit Filipinos.
The assurance comes after Senator Panfilo M. Lacson disclosed that senators of the 19th Congress had introduced insertions worth P5 billion to P9 billion each in the 2025 General Appropriations Act totaling at least P100 billion.
The items were allegedly tagged “for later release.” Mr. Lacson, who heads the Senate blue ribbon committee, called the amounts unprecedented and warned they could threaten fiscal discipline.
Ms. Castro said the President was not initially aware of the scale of the insertions but ordered investigations after irregularities in Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) flood control projects surfaced.
These issues prompted him to veto more than P194 billion in questionable items in the 2025 spending plan and redirect funds to social services.
A House of Representatives subcommittee on Sept. 22 moved to channel billions worth of flood control funds to education and health as they began revising the proposed P6.793-trillion national budget for 2026.
The body redirected P255 billion in flood control funding originally allocated for the Public Works department toward the Health and Education departments, in line with President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.’s call to strengthen human capital development.
Ms. Castro said essential flood mitigation projects would continue, but contractors remain accountable for incomplete works already funded and paid for by the government. She added that probes would determine how much of the insertions were released and implemented.
Budget transparency has become a flashpoint after Mr. Marcos used his July State of the Nation Address to call out lawmakers allegedly profiting from flood control projects. Successive storms and monsoon rains that month exposed weak flood management systems, which aggravated public frustration.
In response, the President ordered reforms at DPWH, installed new leadership and created the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) to review big-ticket projects.
The commission has submitted an interim report flagging procurement irregularities and recommending possible graft and falsification charges against officials and contractors.
Congress is now deliberating on the 2026 national budget, with expectations of tighter scrutiny.
“This is exactly what the President wants to oppose, which is why we are conducting investigations into anomalous flood control projects,” Ms. Castro said. — Chloe Mari A. Hufana
