Cartoon By: Aaron Paul C. Caril
EDITORIAL
Ayuda Serye v.2025: Investment in political patronage intensified
Kudos to Congress for passing the final version of the 2025 national budget. The budget’s timely passage is not just crucial, it’s urgent for the election year. Failure to enact the 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA) will mean operating under a reenacted budget, a situation that the country can ill afford. The 2025 GAA contains the P15 billion allocation for the May 12, 2025 national and local elections and P11.6 billion for the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections. This allocation will not be available if the country operates under a reenacted budget.
Despite the passage of the final version of the budget just in time, there are controversial items in the 2025 GAA. Critics say that after getting a share of P5 billion, the Senate approved the P26 billion AKAP (Ayuda sa Kapos ang Kita Program) for 2025, while giving PhilHealth a Zero Budget for 2025 allegedly due to poor budget performance.
Aside from the unprogrammed appropriations, there are strong criticisms that the AKAP Program is a form of pork barrel. The DSWD quickly defended the budget, saying the funds would go to DSWD, but Senator Imee Marcos, who strongly recommended the deletion of the AKAP budget, disclosed that the fund was an insertion that was not included in President Bongbong Marcos Jr.’s spending plan. It was inserted in the House version of the bill, headed by her first cousin.
These developments in the national budget reveal that Congress is investing in political patronage rather than in items that will spur economic growth and development while being mindful of the needs of people experiencing poverty.
A case in point is the President’s call to devise a means to bring down the price of rice for disadvantaged Filipino families under challenging situations. Remember his promise to bring down the price of rice to P20 per kilo. Vice President Sara Duterte now openly criticizes the promise as mere election propaganda.
Economic and accounting principles dictate that the most robust way of reducing the price of rice in the market is by reducing the marginal cost of production. This means the government should exert efforts to help lower the cost of farm inputs through subsidies or improved production efficiency. Legislators know this fundamental principle, but implementing reforms in agriculture will not make them heroes in the eyes of families who need help. Rather than building a strong agriculture industry, lawmakers chose Ayuda as the magic pill that would uplift not the people with low incomes, but their political ambitions. The controversial selection of the ayuda beneficiaries reveals the true intention of the program.
It’s a no-brainer that investing in education impacts the community, from the individual to the country as a whole. Employers seek people with the appropriate skills to grow new business ventures by injecting new capital. But Congress belittled the enabling power of education by substantially cutting the 2025 budget of the Department of Education by nearly P12 billion, the Commission on Higher Education by P3.4 billion, and the state universities and colleges by P5.8 billion. These cuts are not just numbers on a page, they represent a significant blow to the future of our nation.
Contrast this to the shady unprogrammed funds, which reached a record high of P6.149 trillion, inserted in the 2025 national budget approved by Congress’ bicameral conference (Satur Ocampo, philstar.com). This staggering amount of unprogrammed funds is not just a number, it’s a symbol of the misuse of public resources. Expect a frenzy of savings transfers and marathon biddings as the election ban draws near, further highlighting the injustice of this situation.
The foregoing developments show a pattern of the country’s fiscal mismanagement. President Marcos Jr. must have seen how his allies sneaked their sinister plans, such as the insertion of unprogrammed funds and the allocation of questionable budgets, into the national budget. If he is serious about delivering his campaign promises, he must have listened to his sister, Senator Imee Marcos, publicly express her frustrations. Now is the best time for President Marcos Jr. to rise above all the vilification against the Marcos family—a golden opportunity for redemption unless what we see and hear is purely lip service.