Imee asks DBM: Is increase in FALGU in preparation for 2028 elections?

MANILA — How will the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) dispel the perception that the huge increase in the Financial Assistance to Local Government Units (FALGU) is a preparation for the 2028 elections?

Senator Imee Marcos asked this during DBM’s budget briefing before the Senate Subcommittee on Finance on Thursday.

FALGU, under the Local Government Support Fund (LGSF), is allocated P37.49 billion in the proposed 2027 national budget.

“Ang daming ayuda sa LGSF eh,” Marcos remarked. “Napakalabo nitong LGSF. At the rate they’re going, kung saan-saan napupunta yung LGSF na sa pakiwari ng napakaraming LGU, there’s no rhyme or reason. Masyadong pinopolitika.”

“May rice, may medical, may burial. Eh ganun din ang DA, ganun din yung DSWD, ganun din yung DOTr. Patong-patong na to eh,” Marcos added.

DBM Acting Secretary Kim Robert de Leon explained the guidelines for the LGSF.

“While we acknowledge na meron pong different items in the menu from items A to R, yun pong aming guidelines very explicit that priority shall be given to those with bigger economic multiplier like infrastructure projects, local roads, farm-to-market roads, hospital buildings,” De Leon said.

He added that assistance to indigent individuals has a cap per local government unit.

Marcos replied, “But the cap does not prevent it from being paid twice by another agency. You have no capacity naman to check.”

De Leon admitted that the DBM does not have the capacity to check, but said it is working closely with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the Department of Health (DOH).

Marcos asked the DBM to provide her office with a list of the allocated amounts, assistance delivered, and LGUs.

De Leon committed to do this and said the list is also available in the DBM’s Centralized Open Monitoring Platform for Appropriations and Spending Statistics (COMPASS) website.