Ombudsman vows to pin down those who ‘gamed’ budget after SC decision

MANILA, Philippines — Ombudsman Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla on Monday said he will order the anti-graft body to form a study group in a bid to pin down those who “gamed” the budget in the past few years.

Remulla made this remark as the Supreme Court declared “unconstitutional” certain provisions of the 2024 and 2025 national budgets, as well as key unprogrammed appropriations (UA), or standby government funds, in the 2026 budget.

“I will compose a group that will study the Supreme Court decision and the budget that came with the decision so we could study the details thoroughly,” Remulla said at the sidelines of the Judicial Sector Coordinating Council (JSCC) Memorandum of Understanding signing on Monday.

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READ: SC: Congress can’t bloat president’s budget

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“We always evaluate decisions of the Supreme Court when it comes to pinpointing culpability. We have to act. So we will study all of that and look at where the fault was and how to make people explain their side or at least be made responsible for what they did,” he continued.

Remulla recognized that the Congress could amend the budget proposed by the president, but “bad faith” amendments are a different matter.

“We will look at the ‘parking’, the amounts ‘parked’ in different places; that is a sign that they gamed the budget,” Remulla said. “So for the people who gamed the budget, we will study how to go after them.”

During the oral arguments before the Supreme Court, experts told SC justices that the national budget in the last three years saw an increase in UA, which lawmakers used to “park” their supposed pork barrel in the form of “budget insertions.”

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READ: SC told: Budget items for parking ‘pork’ have reached ‘obscene scale’

Congressional probes revealed that several flood control infrastructure projects were funded under UA as the multibillion corruption scandal involving the projects came to light.

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READ: Ombudsman: 35 flood control cases filed in courts

So far, Remulla said the Office of the Ombudsman has filed 35 flood control-related cases, of which 34 are under the jurisdiction of the Sandiganbayan and four under the Regional Trial Courts.

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He also said a total of 166 flood control-related complaints are already under the Ombudsman’s preliminary investigation, the final stage before releasing a resolution ordering the filing of cases in court. /cb