Since the House of Representatives passed its version of the proposed P7.2-trillion budget for 2027 on Oct. 12, budget reform advocates have raised alarm over billions worth of dubious pork barrel allocations that were inserted by lawmakers. Only 13 of 318 members dissented.
Our analysis showed that the House fattened the allocations for social aid or “ayuda” and local infrastructure programs. Critics have called these funds “soft” and “hard pork” because members of Congress can direct these funds to favored projects or constituents. Presidential son Rep. Sandro Marcos’ Ilocos Norte 1st District is the top recipient of hard pork, with the House giving his district an additional P4.4 billion of infrastructure projects on top of the P369 million originally allocated for it in the budget of the public works department.
To give way to these additions, the House slashed P200 billion from foreign-assisted projects, pension funds, the calamity fund, education and health programs, and other proposals from different agencies.
The House can’t increase the budget as stated in the 1987 Constitution and affirmed by the Supreme Court in its recent ruling on unprogrammed appropriations. But it can realign the items proposed by the executive. Its “habit” of slashing funds for foreign-assisted projects, said former budget secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad, has allowed lawmakers to free up space in the budget to insert local projects and “assorted assistance” programs that are “faster to announce, easier to control, politically more rewarding, and vulnerable to abuse.”
The People’s Budget Coalition, which has tracked the House deliberations, said these adjustments “entrench pork barrel politics, where politicians control access to services, robbing people of dignity and forcing them to beg for benefits they are entitled to under the law.”
The proposed spending bill comes less than two years before the 2028 polls and amid skyrocketing inflation caused by the Iran war and the devastation caused by the hottest El Niño in history.
Here are the major changes the House made to the executive’s proposed budget:
1. P200 billion for ‘ayuda’ and ‘local pork’
The House added P69 billion to its already bloated pool of funds for social aid and local programs, bringing the total to P200 billion. This is just a few billions more than the proposed budget for the Department of Agriculture (DA).
Opposition lawmakers and budget reform advocates flagged these programs as a form of soft pork because of their vulnerability to political capture. According to congressional insiders, citizens can only access these funds through the endorsement of lawmakers.
The House added billions to the following programs:
- The Assistance for Individuals in Crisis Situations (AICS) spiked from P33 billion to P55 billion. This Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) program aims to bring temporary relief to individuals going through “unexpected life events” in the form of food, medical, education, and burial assistance. COA has previously flagged it due to poor implementation resulting in duplicate beneficiaries with another DSWD program.
- The Medical Assistance Program (MAP) was doubled to P48 billion. MAP is the Department of Health’s (DOH) dole out program meant to ease out-of-pocket healthcare expenses, including payment for in- and out-patient services, emergency care, medicine, and doctors. COA found that in 2024, the release of P3 billion in medical aid suffered from delayed releases, while another P300 million transferred to health facilities had no liquidation reports. The House also slashed proposed funding for the DOH’s immunization, family planning, emergency preparedness, and health promotion programs. Funds for the department’s quick response fund, hospital construction, and health workforce management were cut as well.
- The Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD) was increased from P14.4 billion to P19 billion. The program, supervised by the labor department, provides “emergency employment” for displaced, underemployed and seasonal workers. In its 2025 audit, COA flagged P6.4 billion worth of TUPAD payments for over 1,200 beneficiaries due to “excessive payments/availments.”
- The House also awarded P1.8 billion to the Tulong Dunong program, which gives grants to college students. These grants are disbursed by the Commission on Higher Education. CHED chairperson Shirley Agrupis admitted during a budget hearing that these grants are based on lists submitted by Congress. “I am not privy to the dynamics in Congress. Ang tinitingnan ko lang po yung listahan. Kung walang allocation sa isang lawmaker, hindi po namin mabibigyan,” she said.
Two executive branch programs, too, got additional slabs of what budget reform advocates call “pork” controlled by the executive:
- The Local Government Support Fund was increased from P59 billion to P63 billion. Sometimes referred to as “local pork,” these are allocations made by the executive on the request of local governments. These requests can be for agriculture programs, rice assistance, public works, medical assistance, and multi-purpose vehicles, among others.
ACT Teachers Rep. Antonio Tinio first drew attention to the LGSF last year, calling it a “massive slush fund” for local politicians in exchange for their loyalty to the administration.
Former finance undersecretary and economist Cielo Magno warned the same in an Inquirer report in August. She said that the LGSF could be used by the executive to force LGUs to toe the administration’s line, especially as the 2028 elections near.
House appropriations chair Mikaela Suansing defended the program as a way to support the needs of localities that the national government has not met.
- The Presidential Assistance to Farmers and Fisherfolks Program, which the executive did not originally propose, was allocated P10 billion. This is the DA’s cash aid program for agricultural workers struggling from steep production and fuel costs caused by the Iran war.
2. Multibillion, foreign-assisted projects gutted
Funding for major foreign-assisted projects implemented by nine departments were slashed by 30%. This amounts to over P130 billion and is the largest cut in the executive’s proposed budget.
Of this amount, P73 billion was originally allocated for roads, bridges and flood management projects funded by foreign loans and supervised by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
Another P42 billion was also cut from the funds earmarked for the Metro Manila Subway Project, North-South Commuter Railway, Davao Public Transport Modernization Project, and the New Cebu International Port Container Terminal. These projects are handled by the Department of Transportation (DOTr), which received the largest reduction among all departments.
Foreign-assisted projects in education, health, social welfare, and information and communications technology were also affected.
Reducing funding for these projects could delay their implementation, budget expert Zy-za Suzara said in a radio interview. These delays are also costly, she said, because idle projects means “commitment fees” have to be paid for the unused loans incurred to fund them. The Asian Development Bank, Japan International Cooperation Agency, and World Bank are among the lenders.
The Metro Manila Subway and North-South Commuter Railway projects are already facing delays partly due to funding issues, according to the Commission on Audit (COA). Half of the overall P295 million commitment fees incurred by the DOTr in 2025 were caused by the delays from these projects and the Davao Public Transport Modernization Project.
3. Education and ICT also suffer cuts
The Department of Education (DepEd) is still the top recipient of proposed funding with over P967 billion. But its overall proposed budget decreased by P6 billion. This meant computerization, basic education facilities, and human resource development programs suffered cuts, along with foreign-assisted projects.
While the House made cuts on these programs and projects, it inserted new items such as the P500-million fund for school safety and security, a decision prompted by a string of school shootings in past months. Upon the appeal of the Education Secretary Sonny Angara, lawmakers also restored funding for the academic recovery and accessible learning (ARAL) program with P350 million. ARAL, the DepEd’s intervention program for learners struggling with reading, mathematics, and science, had no proposed allocation in the President’s budget.
The Department of Information and Communications Technology received the third largest cut in terms of amount among all departments. The House slashed its budget by P4 billion, or about a fifth of its original budget, an amount that was meant for the national broadband program and the government’s data center infrastructure.
4. Marcos, Dy, Suansing districts get billions
Funding within the DPWH experienced a major shakeup. While the House slashed funding for the department’s foreign-assisted projects, it increased the budget for local roads and buildings usually tied to lawmakers’ requests. Interestingly, P73 billion, the amount cut from foreign-backed projects, is the same amount added to fund local infrastructure.
The budget for payments of right-of-way claims was also cut by P2.6 billion, while the national building program was cut by half a billion. In all, the House realigned P76 billion already within the DPWH’s budget, and further increased it by P11.5 billion by taking away funding from other agencies. The proposed DPWH budget is now P654 billion, the second highest next to education.
Amid the budget shakeup, Ilocos Norte 1st District Engineering Office (DEO), which covers the district of presidential son and Majority Leader Sandro Marcos, got the largest budget hike. In the president’s spending plan, it was allocated only P369 million. In the House version, it spiked to P4.7 billion or an 12-fold increase, making it the most favored district. All other DEOs have an average proposed budget of P856 million or just a fifth of Ilocos Norte’s 1st.
The DEOs assigned to the districts of House Speaker Faustino “Bojie” Dy III and House appropriations committee chairperson Mikaela Suansing also emerged among the top five recipients of proposed DPWH funds after receiving additional allocations. As we reported, this has been the case since they assumed leadership positions in the legislature.
A similar pattern emerged in the Health Facilities Enhancement Program of the DOH. Overall, its proposed budget suffered a P4.4-billion cut. But a closer look revealed that House members realigned allocations within the program. They removed proposed health facilities in some provinces like Pampanga, Cebu, and Apayao and diverted most of it to Isabela, Ilocos Norte, and Nueva Ecija—the bailiwicks of Speaker Bojie Dy, Majority Leader Marcos, and appropriations chair Suansing.
The same provinces are also among the top five recipients of the proposed allocation for farm-to-market roads, which are under the agriculture department’s budget. Last year, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said that his office found “massive overpricing” in farm-to-market roads approved in 2024.
5. Transport, climate crisis-related funds get a small bump
Amid the tug-of-war between pork items and crucial programs in the budget, the House championed some projects intended to address public transport woes caused by oil price hikes.
Congressmen introduced a P1-billion funding for fuel subsidies for public utility vehicle drivers, and another P500 million for service contracting – a DOTr program that pays public transport drivers and operators a fixed amount per kilometer travelled, so commuters can ride at discounted fares.
Lawmakers also added a P75-million allocation for the NCR Busway which serves 63 million commuters plying EDSA, the busiest thoroughfare in Metro Manila. The executive did not originally propose funding for these DOTr programs through the NEP.
In anticipation of the lingering impact of El Niño, the hottest in history, the House added funding for the Presidential Assistance to Farmers and Fisherfolks, a cash assistance program for agricultural workers. It also added funding for Fisherfolks and the Climate Resilience Farm Productivity Support, which Iloilo Rep. Janette Garin said are “mostly farm-to-market roads” leading to agrarian reform communities.
At the same time, though, they removed P1.8 billion in proposed funding for irrigation projects and studies. House lawmakers also reduced the Calamity Fund by P9.5 billion, which had previously been tapped by the national government to mitigate the effects of El Niño upon the request of local government units.
But the People’s Budget Coalition’s said that “the additions that would actually soften an El Niño or a fuel supply shock are real but they are small.”
It is now the Senate’s turn to dig into the proposed 2027 budget and introduce amendments. Senators started deliberating on the spending bill in late August. They are set to debate in plenary on November 23.
In a Facebook post, Senate finance committee chairperson Sen. Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito said that the senate will “conduct its own independent review” of the GAB. “Hindi po natin basta-basta tatanggapin kung ano man ang ipinasa ng Kamara” (we will not plainly accept what the House of Representatives passed),” he added. —PCIJ.org
How did we report this?
First, we downloaded the executive’s budget known as the National Expenditure Program, the House Committee Report on the 2027 budget, and the approved General Appropriations Bill, which are all publicly available through government websites.
Then, we tabulated all its contents through Claude, a language learning model. After supplying it with a series of carefully crafted prompts, it generated an Excel sheet containing all the line items for every agency. The reporter manually checked the figures against the original documents, and the findings posted by independent civil society groups People’s Budget Coalition and BetterGov.ph.
