Full transparency in 2027 budget sought

MANILA, Philippines — The Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) is urging all government agencies and branches involved in the 2027 budget process and implementation to ensure transparency and accountability in the use of public funds.

Amid calls to uphold transparency and accountability in the budget, the Department of Economy, Planning and Development (DEPDev) said it would recommend including the Citizen Access and Disclosure of Expenditures for National Accountability (CADENA) Act in the short list of priority legislative measures for approval under the current Congress.

“The 2027 Budget comes at a time when public trust in government has been seriously damaged by allegations and revelations of corruption, questionable projects, irregularities in public spending and the misuse of government resources,” MAP said.

For the group, these concerns cannot be set aside and must be addressed, as they undermine institutional credibility and trust in the government’s ability to manage public resources.

The business group emphasized that the budget is not the government’s money, but belongs to the people as it comes from Filipino workers, consumers and businesses and even debt that future generations will ultimately bear.

“The government therefore has an obligation to account for how every peso is allocated, spent and translated into actual benefits for the Filipino people,” MAP said.

The group said no hidden insertions, questionable appropriations, favored contractors, ghost or substandard projects, unexplained realignments or use of public funds for political accommodation or personal gain should be allowed in the budget.

As the government claims to uphold good governance and fiscal responsibility, MAP said transparency should be upheld in the entire budget process and even after it is signed.

This means that material amendments and insertions introduced during congressional deliberations and the bicameral conference should be fully disclosed, including details on proponents, amounts and purposes.

The public should also be able to follow public money from appropriation and release to procurement, award, implementation, completion and audit.

As such, MAP is supporting the approval of the CADENA Act and other similar reforms that use technology to make government expenditures transparent, traceable and tamper-resistant.

“We urge the government to institutionalize end-to-end digital transparency across the budget process and eventually make it possible for citizens to trace public expenditures from appropriation to actual implementation. The technology to do this already exists. What is required is the political will to make transparency the rule rather than the exception,” MAP said.

DEPDev Secretary Arsenio Balisacan told reporters on the sidelines of the Development Budget Coordination Committee budget briefing at the Senate that he would recommend including the CADENA Act in the short list of legislative measures being prioritized for approval.

“I will raise it up,” he said, noting that the decision will be up to the leaders of the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council.

During the budget briefing, Sen. Bam Aquino asked why the CADENA Act, which was among the priority legislative measures for passage last year, was not in the latest list.