MANILA, Philippines — ACT Teachers party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio on Wednesday slammed the proposed 2027 national budget as “anti-poor and anti-people,” criticizing the government for cutting social services while increasing allocations for defense, infrastructure and the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).
Tinio said social services would suffer a 5.5-percent cut under the proposed budget, while defense spending would increase by 6.76 percent.
He said the education budget would drop from P1.345 trillion in 2026 to P1.314 trillion in 2027, reducing its share of gross domestic product from 4.4 percent to 3.95 percent.
“Education is already severely underfunded, and yet they are cutting it even further,” Tinio said, calling the reduction “a direct assault on the right to education of millions of Filipino youth.”
Tinio also flagged cuts in maintenance and other operating expenses, including P33 billion for the Department of Education, P12 billion for the Commission on Higher Education, P5.3 billion for the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority and P23.1 billion for the Department of Health.
“Schools and hospitals will be forced to scrimp on maintenance, utilities, and basic operations because of these draconian MOOE cuts,” he said.
In contrast, the Armed Forces of the Philippines Modernization Program would receive an additional P10 billion, bringing its proposed allocation to P50 billion, while the NTF-ELCAC budget would rise from P8.08 billion to P9.74 billion.
Tinio also questioned the proposed P107.4 billion allocation for flood control, including P83.85 billion in new appropriations for the Department of Public Works and Highways’ Flood Management Program.
He said the allocation was questionable amid the absence of a publicly released flood control master plan and continued concerns over alleged corruption in flood control projects.
“From the NTF-ELCAC to the AFP modernization, and the corruption-ridden DPWH flood control projects—this is a clear case of misprioritization,” Tinio said.
“They are giving priority to corrupt, draconian and human rights-violating agencies like the NTF-ELCAC rather than social services that the people urgently need,” he added.
Tinio said he would oppose the proposed budget in Congress.
