House OKs P116-B in 2027 budget amendments

MANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives on Wednesday approved P116 billion in amendments to the P7.2-trillion 2027 national budget, adopting the redistribution recommendations of a select panel of ranking lawmakers.

The House floor resolved through a division of the House whether to adopt the Budget Amendments Review Subcommittee’s (BARSc) recommendation to rechannel roughly P116 billion in amendments. The vote was by acclamation of lawmakers in plenary.

The voice vote followed an objection by ACT Teachers Rep. Antonio Tinio, who opposed approving the budget realignments by substitution, arguing that the method lacked transparency.

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“A total of P116 billion was changed here, with the significant amendments … going to aid programs which involve the discretion of legislators in allocating these welfare funds,” Tinio, an opposition lawmaker, told the floor in Filipino.

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READ: Tinio demands details on budget amendments as House debate sets to open

The People’s Budget Coalition, a civil group monitoring budget developments, said in a statement last week that about P99.41 billion, or 85 percent, “went to items we tag as red flags,” referring to the amendments made by BARSc.

The bulk of the rechanneled funding was streamed toward programs that rely on “politician referrals” and “infrastructure insertions with opaque project plans,” it said. /mcm