Senate to Review Over P1 Trillion of Questionable Funds in 2027 Budget

During a Senate Finance panel hearing, the People's Budget Coalition reported that the House-drafted 2027 budget includes over P1 trillion in what it calls “red flags,” comprising P210 billion of patronage-driven aid, P695 billion of politicized infrastructure projects and P112 billion of shadow pork or unprogrammed appropriations. Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian affirmed that the Senate will evaluate the House’s changes together with Finance Committee chair Senator JV and the DPWH to verify their technical soundness.

The coalition noted that aid allocations were nearly doubled in the House version, and that thousands of infrastructure items were inserted without publicly available documents, including road, health-facility and irrigation projects. Public-finance specialist Zy-Za Nadine Suzara added that a large share of unprogrammed funds had already been released to agencies such as the DPWH, DSWD and DOH. Coalition co-convenors Kenneth Abante and AJ Montesa called for the Senate or the President to veto any items lacking proper documentation, citing the need to protect taxpayer money. The article also listed districts with the biggest budget increases, naming Ilocos Norte’s 1st district, represented by Sandro Marcos, as the top recipient.