NO MATTER THE change in leadership, the itch for budgetary insertions bit the new House leaders who, like their predecessors allocated hefty sums for their districts.
As in the past, the House leadership gets more in “insertions,” according to the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism.
The district of the new speaker, Isabela Rep. Faustino “Bojie” Dy III, received the most insertions in the House-proposed 2026 budget for the graft-ridden Department of Public Works and Highways at P23 billion.
The districts of Nueva Ecija Rep. Mikaela Suansing, who replaced resigned House appropriations committee chair Elizaldy Co, and her sister, Sultan Kudarat Rep. Bella Suansing, ranked second and third, respectively.
Insertions are additional projects or allocations lodged into the budget by lawmakers during congressional hearings. These were not originally included in the DPWH-proposed budget.
In September, the DPWH had allocated P1.1 billion to Dy’s district. But when the House passed its version of the 2026 budget, that amount was tripled to P3.8 billion.
Suansing’s district was originally allocated P1.6 billion in DPWH funds but this more than doubled to P3.4 billion after House budget deliberations. Her sister Bella ranked third in insertion amounts, with her district being given P3.9 billion after an insertion of P1.6 billion.
Regardless of the people’s outrage toward kickbacks and budget insertions, the new House leadership seemed unaffected by the fury by endowing their districts undeserved largesse in keeping with the traditional habits of their predecessors. At the very least their action borders on greed and public apathy.
PROPOSED DPWH BUDGET
The proposed 2026 budget for the DPWH is said to be the lowest under the Marcos administration– from P880 billion as proposed by resigned Secretary Manuel Bonoan, it was pared to P625 billion by new Secretary Vince Dizon, which the House further cut by P1 billion, as a token of sincerity to be more mindful of public funds. Yet, the final amount still carried hefty pork for the three top House officials.
The Senate further slashed the DPWH budget to P570 billion by removing what Senate President Pro-Tempore Panfilo Lacson referred to as “questionable items.”
The final budget amount will be determined by the bicameral committee composed of members of both houses. Yielding to public clamor, Congress for the first time in history, opened to the public the bicam meetings.
The question: Can the bicam rein in the old practices that led to the biggest corruption scandal in recent memory?
SPOTTING PORK BARREL
There are indicators that could determine whether or not a budget allocation contains pork barrel.
Two-thirds of the House-proposed DPWH budget can be considered “pork.” Despite exposés showing massive payoffs to legislators and other public officials, the House still allocated some P400 billion in “pork” in the budget of the graft-prone DPWH.
District representatives, in cahoots with the executive branch, determine how these funds, called “allocables,” are going to be spent. Such discretionary spending is one characteristic of pork.
The Supreme Court in 2013, in the wake of a corruption scandal, banned pork (by any other name) from the budget.
In addition, P100 billion in “non-allocable” projects— initiated by the DPWH were tucked in, that legislators and other officials can influence who gets the contracts for them. The total DPWH budget proposed by the House for 2026 is P624 billion.
The Senate version of the budget, however, has reduced the DPWH allocation to P570 billion. The bicam is expected to reconcile the House and Senate proposals.
MAINTAINING CLOUT
By now, the Bicam must have already realized that the former Speaker (Martin Romualdez) still has clout over the budget.
Despite resigning from the speakership and being accused of receiving billions of pesos in kickbacks, Romualdez’s district was given the biggest chunk—P6 billion of the P500 billion in “allocable” and “non-allocable” DPWH funds.
This amount is actually reduced from the P9.9 billion the DPWH originally proposed for Romualdez’s district.
The only other district who received more than his is the 2nd district of Misamis Oriental, represented by Yevgeny “Bambi” Emano, which received P6.35 billion.
Advocates of good governance have called for an equitable distribution of the infrastructure budget, depending on a locality’s population and poverty rate. But Emano and Romualdez’s districts are not necessarily the ones with the highest population or poverty incidence in the country.
Zamboanga del Norte is the country’s poorest province. And yet, the total proposed budget allocation for all of its three legislative districts, which is at P6.33 billion, is just slightly on par with Emano’s single district, PCIJ noted.