BUSINESS and industry groups on Thursday called on the leaders of the Senate and the House of Representatives to remove budget insertions without technical basis on the P7.2 trillion proposed 2027 national budget.
The joint statement from 35 groups was specifically addressed to Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian, Senate Finance Committee Chair JV Ejercito, House Speaker Faustino "Bojie" Dy, and House Appropriations Committee Chair Mikaela Suansing.
The House General Appropriations Bill (HB 10858) was approved with a 281-13 vote during the third reading earlier this year.
According to the groups, the bill added over P180 billion in allocations to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) through the Budget Amendments and Review Subcommittee (BARSc).
In the joint statement, the groups said the additions were reportedly funded through cuts of approximately P130 billion from foreign-assisted projects, P9.5 billion from calamity funds, P4.9 billion from health groups, and P1.76 billion from the EDSA Busway.
"We find this deeply troubling," said the groups.
They stated that foreign-assisted projects are the country's most rigorously prepared infrastructure as they are supported by feasibility studies, financing, and international procurement standards. They added that slashing funding for these projects delay high-impact projects that would lower logistics costs and attract investments.
"Public funds are the people’s money, raised from the taxes of every worker, consumer, and enterprise," they said. "A budget free of politically driven insertions will strengthen investor confidence, protect the country’s fiscal space, and ensure that every peso builds the infrastructure, schools, and health services the nation truly needs."
Watchdogs also reported that the additions cover at least 6,000 projects, raising the DPWH's project count to at least 16,000. They added that these seem to be lump sums for multipurpose buildings and access and bypass roads. However, they said these do not have published project lists nor named proponents.
The groups also slammed cutting the budget for calamity funds, highlighting the county's high exposure to disasters.
The groups emphasized the previous insertions in the 2023 and 2025 projects have led to ghost and substandard flood control projects. "The 2027 budget must not repeat that history," they said.
With this, the groups called on the Congress to remove insertions without basis, saying items should only remain if they are supported by a feasibility study or detailed engineering design, aligned with the agency's master plans, and was identified as ready for implementation in 2027.
They stated that funds taken from foreign-assisted projects, calamity funds, EDSA Busway, and health programs should be restored unless their reduction could be publicly justified.
The groups also said that agencies should not be allowed to modify or replace projects after they are enacted, so special provision that allow those acts should be removed.
They also urged the Congress to public every amendment in full before the second reading voting by the Senate and the start of the bicameral conference.
The groups also asserted that no new items should be admitted at the bicameral conference, with the bicameral report only reconciling what was approved by the upper and lower chambers. They added there should not be any blank or lump sum entries, and that deliberations should be fully livestreamed.
The business sector said they support the timely passage of the 2027 budget and do not intend to cause delays, noting that they oppose a reenacted budget.
They emphasized that a technical review can be accommodated with the current timeline, and stated that a clean budget and a timely budget are not in conflict.
