THE PROPHETS OF today have spoken, loud and clear: “The CLERGY’S CALL: SHIFT FROM ‘AYUDA–DRIVEN BUDGET.’ (INQUIRER headline) For many Filipinos, this call from the Catholic Church’s leaders is a fresh breath of air, as it were, given that this bold Pastoral Letter suddenly appeared, after a long hiatus of deafening silence since 2016, when a braggart from Davao said that “God is stupid,” and went on a killing spree of more than 30,000 Filipinos, including innocent youths!
The message to the so-called “representatives of the people” is an indictment of their dynasty-centric and anti-people 2025 Budget for the country.
More to the point, it also demands from these government officials, who are mandated to work for the benefit of the people, to start their work with an honest-to-goodness budget for programs geared to solving the main problems besetting the majority of the people.
IN THE GUISE OF …
But, in the guise of solving the massive poverty suffered by more than half, perhaps a quarter, of the estimated 116 million Filipinos, they have traitorously allotted for themselves hundreds of billions of pesos for handing out to their constituents, as if the cash-out is coming from their pockets. And this scenario has been an SOP among dynastic candidates especially during the election period.
The bishops, in the words of executive director Fr. Tito Caluag of Caritas Philippines (social action arm of the CBCP), said it best: “While ayuda is needed for the poor not to get mired deeper in poverty, it is also important that we provide them with programs that will truly give strength and opportunity to empower them and to genuinely improve their lives and not need to depend on ayuda.” This ayuda in the budget has long been a source of corruption.
The dynastic candidates are actually making their constituents, particularly the poor in the ‘laylayan’ communities, dependent on them (for their votes) with the Filipinos’ deep-seated ‘utang-na-loob’ enslaving them under a political patronage set-up! And the deception by the dynastic candidate is that: (1) the cash-out in the eyes of the receiver serves to relay the message that he or she is supposedly worthy of being a good public official deserving of being elected, and (2) the money given serves as a bribe, and the receiver cannot see that he is voting for a corrupt dynastic candidate.
The budget should enhance the capability of the people, with the right education and training, to have jobs and be empowered to think critically for themselves.
REEKING OF CORRUPTION
The 2025 Budget, as finalized by the secretive bicameral committee, reeks of corruption. The budget for DepEd, SUCs, UP and government-operated schools should have the biggest budget allotment, according to the Constitution. The Education System must be upgraded yearly, given that as of today, the Edcom Report 2 said that 2,000 schools have no designated Principals, and among other problems, there has long been the need for 16,000 classrooms.
Along with the budget for Education, PhilHealth should likewise be given adequate funds for the healthcare needs of the poor, and adequate funding for hospitals and their medical staff and professionals.
CULTURE OF MENDICANCY
In a nutshell, the bishops are telling president Bongbong Marcos, VP Sarah Duterte, the senators and congressmen to craft a budget that is truly for the benefit of the people, particularly the millions of poor and vulnerable Filipinos.
Their anti-poverty programs should “not promote a culture of patronage and mendicancy.” The budget should enhance the capability of the people, with the right education and training, to have jobs and be empowered to think critically for themselves.
In other words, the 2025 budget, the people’s money, should not be for the self-serving interests of the legislators, but for the benefit of the vulnerable sectors of society.