President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has two days to decide on the P6.793-trillion 2026 national budget, with watchdog groups warning that over P633 billion could fuel corruption or patronage politics.
The People’s Budget Coalition and Roundtable for Inclusive Development identified three types of pork in the budget: hard pork in infrastructure projects, soft pork in discretionary cash aid programs, and shadow pork in unprogrammed funds.
They urged citizen monitoring, reallocation of politically influenced aid like MAIFIP to strengthen universal health care, and strict safeguards to prevent legislators from manipulating beneficiaries.
The watchdogs also highlighted gains in transparency, such as livestreamed bicameral sessions and improved public access to budget documents, but called for further reforms ahead of the 2027 budget.
Marcos is expected to sign the budget on January 5, with groups pushing for greater civil society participation and legislative reforms to curb misuse of funds.
Source: PhilNews24 | January 4, 2026
MARCOS FLAGS P633-B ‘HARD, SOFT, SHADOW PORK’ IN 2026 BUDGET
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