The Makabayan Coalition identifies different kinds of pork in the enrolled 2026 General Appropriations Bill
The Makabayan coalition of progressive parties rejected House Bill No. 4058, or the proposed 2026 General Appropriations Bill, during its ratification at the House of Representatives (HOR) last December 29.
“This budget is not for the Filipino people. It is a budget designed for the political survival of the corrupt Marcos administration, a budget that perpetuates systemic corruption through billions in pork barrel funds, and a budget that enables fascist repression against a growing people’s movement demanding accountability and genuine democracy,” the Coalition said.
As the HOR leadership railroaded the bill’s passage in under a minute, the voice of Makabayan lawmaker and ACT Teachers Party Rep. Antonio Tinio could be heard asking to be recognized. He was ignored.
Tinio and fellow Makabayan representatives, Gabriela’s Sarah Elago and Kabataan’s Renee Co then issued their respective explanations for rejecting the HOR and Senate bicameral budget report.
New kinds of pork
The three progressive legislators said that despite claims of being “people-centered,” the enrolled 2026 national budget fails to address the fundamental needs of the people.
“There is no substantial allocation for genuine agrarian reform or national industrialization. While funding for education, healthcare, housing, and other social services remains woefully inadequate, billions are poured into pork barrel funds, fascist programs, debt servicing, and projects that serve foreign interests,” they said.
Makabayan also rejected as “a brazen lie” claims the measure is “pork-free” as it is riddled with multiple forms of lard: presidential pork, vice-presidential pork, allocables, hard pork, soft pork, generals’ pork, and the newest variant — LGU (local government unit) pork.
The bicameral committee bloated LGU pork to unprecedented levels, Makabayan said.
The Local Government Support Fund (LGSF) was increased by ₱41.87 billion — from ₱16 billion in the National Expenditure Program to ₱57.87 billion, the largest in history.
Financial Assistance to LGUs ballooned from ₱5 billion to ₱37.5 billion, while the Growth Equity Fund jumped from ₱1 billion to ₱11.3 billion—both lump-sum funds that can be used for infrastructure and ayuda at the discretion of politicians.
“Even the Calamity Fund was converted into pork. A new lump-sum fund, the Disaster Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Assistance Program for LGUs, was allocated ₱15.33 billion, a new form of presidential pork barrel that can be used for roads, bridges, multi-purpose buildings, and assistance in areas affected by calamities, epidemics, or armed conflict over the past two years, the Coalition revealed.
In total, LGU pork in the 2026 budget amounts to ₱73.2 billion, it added.
Service morphing into lard
Meanwhile, the ₱8 billion generals’ pork—the Support to Barangay Development Program under the NTF-ELCAC (National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict) — remains intact, funding militarization and fascist operations in communities while confidential and intelligence funds were increased to over ₱11 billion, Makabayan further revealed.
“To fund these pork barrel allocations, the bicameral committee slashed funds for the salaries, benefits, and regularization of government employees. The Miscellaneous Personnel Benefits Fund was reduced by ₱10.77 billion, and the Pension and Gratuity Fund was cut by ₱32 billion, with these amounts transferred to Unprogrammed Appropriations,” Makabayan complained.
“While we successfully prevented the ₱20.56 billion cut to performance-based bonuses and plantilla positions for government employees and public school teachers, ₱43.25 billion for Personnel Services Requirements now sits in Unprogrammed Appropriations (UA), with no certainty that these will be funded next year,” Makabayan said.
The group pointed out that UA, which have no constitutional basis and have been grossly abused in past years, remain in the budget at ₱243 billion.
It said UA is nothing but a massive presidential pork barrel fund, a slush fund prone to corruption and political manipulation.
Creative ways for more corruption
The new General Provision No. 78 on Suspension of Expenditure — reminiscent of the unconstitutional Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) — allows the President to impound MOOE (maintenance, operating, and other expenses) and capital outlays when “public interest so requires” or when there is an “unmanageable budget deficit,” the Coalition said.
This provision can be deliberately used to create “savings” to augment other pork barrel programs, it warned.
Marcos’ 2026 budget more than doubles allocations for band-aid assistance programs that fuel patronage politics: Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS) at ₱63.9 billion, Medical Assistance to Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients (MAIFIP) at ₱51.6 billion, and Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD) at ₱22.4 billion.
Under any other name, these programs constitute the essence of the pork barrel system — rebranded but fundamentally unchanged, Makabayan said, adding that the Marcos-controlled Congress prioritizes short-term, fragmented assistance over accessible and adequate healthcare, education, decent work, and livelihood, Makabayan said.
Soft presidential pork
Marcos shall have his own exclusive soft pork called the Presidential Assistance to Farmers and Fisherfolk, the progressive lawmakers revealed.
Instead of genuine agrarian reform, the junking of the Rice Liberalization Law and a stop to agricultural imports, farmers and fisherfolk are offered measly assistance through the program, ACT, Gabriela and Kabataan pointed out.
There is also a glaring lack of substantial funding for the full implementation of the Magna Carta of Women, the Anti-VAWC Law, and Early Childhood Care and Development programs. This budget sponsors poverty and job insecurity, then offers band-aid assistance as a tool for political patronage.
The big winners remain the corrupt officials who have yet to be jailed but will feast on the fattened pork barrel next year.
Students shall also be offered breadcrumbs, with a measly 4% increase in education that will only exacerbate state abandonment and commercialization of the system.
Marcos still ‘reviewing’ enrolled budget
Two days into the New Year, Marcos has yet to sign the general appropriations bill into law, violating the Constitutional provision on national budgets and forcing his government to operate on a reenacted 2025 bill.
Makabayan said the President is squirming on how to justify corruption prone provisions in the enrolled bill as he promised the 2026 national budget to be “pork free.”
“With its back against the wall, the Marcos administration is tightening its grip on public funds and various factions through bloated pork barrel allocations, especially under Unprogrammed Appropriations,” Makabayan said.
Whatever shiny coating he will deploy, this is a budget for the political survival of the Marcos administration, a budget that enables systemic corruption, and a budget for fascist repression of a growing people’s movement for accountability and genuine democracy, the Coalition said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
