Marcos Jr. to order sweeping review of agency budgets

MANILA, Philippines — President Marcos is ready to order a sweeping review of the proposed budgets of agencies, Malacañang said yesterday as it urged the different  agencies to check their respective proposed outlays for possible insertions and other questionable items.

The administration is looking into alleged anomalies that resulted in substandard or non-existent flood control projects, a problem widely believed to have worsened the effects of cyclones and other weather disturbances.

Marcos has ordered a lifestyle check on officials and a thorough review of the budget of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), that he said was dotted with insertions.

However, some lawmakers claimed that there are also questionable items in the spending program of other agencies, including the firearms deal of the interior and local government department, farm- to-market roads of the agriculture department and a beautification program of the health department.

“If there are other agencies involved, the directive of the President will be the same,” Presidential Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro said at a press briefing yesterday.

Castro encouraged agencies to check their respective proposed outlays for possible insertions and other questionable items.

“Perhaps, given these observations, it would be better for other agencies to look at (the budget proposals) they reported. There might be insertions that are not supposed to be there,” the Palace press officer said.

Newly appointed Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon said he met with Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman on Wednesday to discuss changes in his department’s budget. “I was told the DPWH budget in the NEP is 700 pages; I need to study it,” Dizon said at a briefing.

The Marcos administration is seeking a P6.793-trillion national budget for 2026, higher than this year’s P6.326-trillion outlay.

At the briefing, Castro assailed claims that the investigation on the flood control projects is targeting Vice President Sara Duterte and her allies.

Duterte, a former ally-turned-arch critic of Marcos, had alleged that the probe was intended to divert attention from an alleged scheme – which she did not specify – being orchestrated behind the scenes. Sen. Imee Marcos, elder sister of the President and a close ally of Duterte, claimed that there is a plan to get rid of the Vice President before 2027.

“There’s nothing to worry about in their statements. They are just creations of fertile and wild imagination,” Castro said.

Asked what Malacañang intends to do in case the flood control controversy spawns widespread protests, Castro said the investigation is not meant to stir anger, but to determine what happened to the projects that were supposed to benefit the public.

Castro also revealed that the executive order creating an independent commission that would look into the flood control projects is already being finalized.

PCAB overhaul sought

As legislative inquiry into flood control projects continues, Sen. Panfilo Lacson is calling for a complete overhaul of the Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board (PCAB) following the resignation of its executive director Herbert Matienzo.

“A complete overhaul of the PCAB board is in order at this point. The PCAB has been a low-key yet corrupt-ridden regulatory body which, in tandem with the Department of Public Works and Highways has methodically punched us in the gut, providing the first of a one-two punch thus knocking out our hard earned tax payments,” Lacson said. Matienzo resigned reportedly for personal reasons.

It was Lacson who exposed an alleged “accreditation for sale” in the PCAB as well as cases of conflict of interest involving board members Erni Baggao and Arthur Escalante who were found to have their own construction companies with contracts with the government.

Lacson slammed the “stench of corruption” in the DPWH and other agencies tasked with implementing public works.

“Nakakapagod. When I left the Senate three years ago, the stench of corruption was limited to some graft-ridden agencies known for the malevolent execution of their projects. Now, the stench has penetrated the corridors of the National Expenditure Program through insertions with DPWH and Congress colluding,” Lacson said.

For his part, Sen. Erwin Tulfo said the investigation on alleged corruption in the PCAB should not stop with its official’s resignation. “Just because they resigned doesn’t mean they’re off the hook. They remain under investigation even if they’re no longer in position,” Tulfo said in Filipino, referring apparently to the resignation of Matienzo.

“But those officials who resigned or got fired may be asked to talk or stand as witnesses in all investigations on anomalous DPWH projects,” he added.

He also cited his proposal to amend Republic Act 4566 or the “Contractors’ License Law” seeking to change the PCAB composition and prevent conflict of interest among its members.

Lacson also said the House of Representatives cannot just return the National Expenditure Program (NEP) to Malacañang over “mangled” entries.

“BUDGET 101: Congress cannot return the NEP to Malacañang since it is only a budget proposal, not an Enrolled Bill for approval or line-item veto by the President. However, the DPWH through the DBM may submit errata sheets but it is up to Congress to adopt such ‘errata’ or not,” Lacson said.

Speaking to The STAR’s “Truth on the Line” yesterday, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said the Senate’s budget timeline remains the same despite the House possibly returning the NEP to the Department of Budget and Management.

“Nevertheless, whatever happens, I consulted with the other senators and we all agreed that our briefings will continue,” said Gatchalian, who chairs the Senate finance committee.

“We’re very conscious of the time. We want to make sure we pass the budget before the year ends,” Gatchalian said.

“Whatever happens, if there are changes in the budget of a particular agency, then we will just rehear them,” he added.

NEP back to DBM?

At the House, Antipolo 1st district Rep. Ronaldo Puno said Speaker Martin Romualdez has approved the call of colleagues and party leaders to return NEP to the DBM for revision and corrections.

Puno said Romualdez made his position known last Wednesday during a meeting with House party leaders.

But Puno said Romualdez made it clear that only questionable portions and not the entire NEP would be returned to the DBM.

“He (Romualdez) said that it might be better if we will not return all, the entire NEP, because there are some agencies that are OK, so, we agreed, we said Speaker it can be done that way,” Puno said over radio dzBB.

Puno said Romualdez told them to “clearly point out” to the DBM their problems and the errors in the budget for their congressional districts.

“He (Romualdez) told us to point out in our complaint, or even bring it to the media if needed. So, we all agreed,” he said.

“So, what we will do now in DPWH is instead of returning all (the NEP), we will present each concern of the congressional districts with problems, no matter if it will take us two days or more to raise our concerns. The Speaker said, you point out every single problem that every district has,” he added.

Puno said they do not intend to revise the NEP so they won’t be accused again of putting insertions in the budget.

“We cannot do the correction with errata, because errata only means changing the spelling, the lines, the wordings, but not changing the entire page because that will no longer be an errata. It will be a major revision already,” he added. He the President had already ordered the DBM to revise the whole budget for 2026.

Meanwhile, the Makabayan bloc in the House said Malacañang’s order for a sweeping review of the national budget – especially DPWH’s – was an act of damage control in response to allegations of massive corruption.- Marc Jayson Cayabyab, Jose Rodel Clapano, Rainier Allan Ronda