Breakup year

The year 2024 will be remembered in our country for three things in politics in government. The first is the breakup of the UniTeam – unexpected only because it happened so soon.
The collapse of the 2022 winning coalition led to the second significant event – remarkable mainly because it would have been unthinkable in the previous administration: the Dutertes’ loss of invincibility.
Scrutiny of fund utilization by the Dutertes led to the third noteworthy development of the year: heightened public awareness of the budgeting process and priorities of the Marcos administration and its allies.
BBM refused to return the budget bill to a reconvened bicameral conference, probably believing it would be an exercise in futility, with the “pork”-hungry epal lawmakers digging in their heels in an election year.
As the year ended, the fourth quarter survey of reputable pollster Social Weather Stations Inc. showed both President Marcos and Vice President Sara Duterte continuing to suffer declines in their trust ratings.
The question for the new year is what people are going to do about such developments.
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With the UniTeam breakup, will a third force emerge as a viable alternative, putting an end to the kakistoracy that has been inflicted on our land? The online description of a kakistocracy is a government “run by the worst, least qualified or most unscrupulous citizens.”
Such an alternative may not emerge in time for the 2025 midterm polls, but it can be possible in 2028. Black swans are common in our leadership changes.
Testimonies at the quad comm could lead to the indictment of former president Rodrigo Duterte and his minions for crimes against humanity committed in his take-no-prisoners crackdown on illegal drugs.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) itself is finally looking into possible indictments not just for individual extrajudicial killings in the drug war, but interlinking EJKs and an alleged quota and reward system for drug kills.
This could lead to prosecution not just for multiple murder, but for violation of Republic Act 9851, the law against genocide and other crimes against humanitarian law. RA 9851 was enacted way back in 2009, but as far as I know, it has been applied only once, in a case in Mindanao.
One complication is that the DOJ probe could be used by the Duterte camp in invoking complementarity to suspend the probe by the International Criminal Court, now in its final stages before arrest warrants are issued. Considering the malleability of Philippine justice, it’s uncertain if Duterte and his minions would ever face punishment in our country for a crackdown that they say they would do again, if given the chance.
The quad comm probe also led to the demise of another Duterte pet project, the Philippine offshore gaming operations. Beginning today, all POGOs and their local copycat, the internet gaming licensee, can no longer operate.
Meanwhile, 2024 looked like annus horribilis for VP Sara, but 2025 could prove worse. That is if she is impeached, although this seems uncertain at this point, given the tight window before the midterm elections in May, and the House reportedly waiting for a fourth complaint before consolidating the charges and voting on them.
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As for the 2025 budget for pork and patronage (not progress), BBM made some token line item vetoes, but retained the funding priorities of his congressional allies. Meaning, lower appropriations for health, education, agriculture, social welfare, the conditional cash transfer and the Armed Forces modernization program, among others.
The P288.6 billion added by the bicam to the Department of Public Works and Highways’ P825.11 billion budget in the National Expenditure Program (NEP) was slashed by BBM by a measly P26 billion – just enough to lower the total P1.1 trillion DPWH funding to a level slightly below the allocation for the entire education sector. This is the part that fulfills the Palace promise of making the 2025 compliant with the Constitution.
Officials said implementation of the projects under that additional P288.6 billion would be “conditional” – whatever that means.
The massive increase in the new pork barrel, the unprogrammed operations, also had a token cut. The conditional cash transfer funding was slashed by P50 billion by the bicam, while the unconditional cash transfer called AKAP, wherein politicians take personal credit for giving away our tax money, was retained.
Officials announced that disbursement of the Ayuda para sa Kapos ang Kita would have a layer of oversight, by the Department of Labor and Employment and the National Economic and Development Authority. Good luck to DOLE chief Bienvenido Laguesma and NEDA head Arsenio Balisacan in trying to get politicians’ snouts off the AKAP trough.
After the budget enactment at Malacañang, the designated explainer, chief justice-turned-Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, expressed confidence that the measure would stand up to any challenge that might be brought before the Supreme Court.
Administration officials had said Congress exercised its power of the purse, and BBM had limited power to moderate the congressional greed.
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There is in fact something that the executive can do, to show who is the ultimate holder of the power of the purse: Malacañang can delay until after the elections the release of AKAP payouts, funding for unprogrammed pork appropriations and the DPWH projects that are not in the NEP submitted by the executive branch.
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, during her presidency, wielded this executive power of the purse extensively, to bend Congress to her will.
If BBM allows the release ASAP of these questionable funds, in time for the election campaign, all the Palace sound and fury over the mangling of the 2025 national budget would signify nothing. BBM will just be another actor in the zarzuela of plunder that was foisted upon the Filipino people, complicit in the impounding of public funds for personal and partisan purposes.
On Rizal Day, BBM urged Filipinos to be catalysts for change. He should lead by example.
There are actions that can help correct the ills and make our country a better place. We can all play a role in this, building on the significant developments in the year just past.
May 2025 be a year of meaningful change for all!
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