Wary of 'dictator' tag, Marcos won't touch budget approved by House allies

MANILA, Philippines — A "dictator" if he steps in, "indifferent" if he stays out. Malacañang said that is why President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. wants to keep his hands off the House-approved 2027 budget that watchdogs say is crammed with questionable insertions.

"Ang pangulo ay hindi makikialam sa trabaho ng Kongreso (The president will not interfere with the work of Congress)," Castro said in Filipino at a briefing on Tuesday, November 3.

In the budget process, it is the executive branch that prepares the National Expenditure Program, which is then submitted to the House before being passed as the General Appropriations Bill.

Marcos' allies make up most of the 317-seat House. The president's eldest son, Rep. Sandro Marcos (Ilocos Norte, 1st District), is the House majority leader.

"This is not the time for the president to meddle in their affairs; if he were to engage with them or interfere in the work of the House of Representatives or the Senate, people would call him a dictator—yet if he chooses not to interfere, you would say he doesn't care," she added.

Castro brushed aside the idea that Marcos should step in, saying it was not his mandate to interfere in the work and decisions of either legislative chamber.

She also pushed back against what she called a "spin" blaming the administration for alleged anomalies in a budget that is still under review. 

"Ang budget ay hindi pa po tapos," Castro said. (The budget is not final yet.)

Her remarks came a week after the People's Budget Coalition, a civil society watchdog, told the Senate finance committee that the House version of the P7.2-trillion spending plan carries more than P1 trillion in "red flag" allocations, or roughly one of every seven pesos in the bill. 

READ: Watchdogs urge Senate to strip House 'insertions' in pork-riddled 2027 budget

The group said the House inserted about 7,000 infrastructure projects worth P190 billion, none of them with published project attachments to justify their inclusion.

The House supermajority passed the budget bill on October 12 by a vote of 281-13, after its Budget Amendments and Review Subcommittee introduced about P116 billion in amendments. 

A review by the Senate finance committee found that the number of public works projects grew from 11,420 in the executive's original proposal to 16,244 in the House bill.

Last week, more than 30 business and industry groups urged leaders of both chambers to strip out budget insertions that lack technical basis, warning against a repeat of the ghost and substandard flood control projects that tainted earlier budgets.

Last week, the Palace defended P4.37 billion in public works projects that the coalition said were added for Sandro Marcos, with Castro saying there was nothing wrong with insertions that benefit the public. 

Budget watchdogs have repeatedly clarified that proof of insertions by lawmakers are not itself evidence of wrongdoing.  

On Tuesday, Castro said Marcos would reject amendments that cannot be justified with the right documents. 

"Hindi papayagan ng pangulo ang anumang budget amendments kung ito ay walang sapat na dokumento, walang tamang deskripsiyon at walang kahihinatnang proyekto," she said. 

(The president will not allow any budget amendment that has no sufficient documents, no proper description and no project to show for it.)

Asked how far Marcos would go to protect his priority projects, Castro repeated the Palace's call for Congress not to cut the executive's proposal, warning that reductions would stall or delay projects meant to be finished under his administration. 

"Alam naman natin na kapag kinakailangan ng Pangulo na mag-veto, nagbi-veto siya," she said. (We know that when the President needs to veto, he vetoes.)  

Castro asked watchdogs to send copies of the items they flagged directly to the Presidential Communications Office.  

Senate finance committee chair Sen. JV Ejercito has said civil society groups will be invited to observe the bicameral talks, and has secured a commitment from the Department of Public Works and Highways to drop House-added projects without complete documents unless those are submitted by today.