Palace: Marcos admin shares public sentiment vs reallocated 2027 funds

MANILA — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. shares the public’s sentiment against the reallocation of 2027 funds originally earmarked for the administration’s key projects, Malacañang said on Friday after several business groups urged Congress to invalidated funding bill changes earlier approved by the House of Representatives.

“May proposed budget para sa 2027 na sinumite ang ehekutibo at iyon ang mga programa at proyekto na dapat sanang mapondohan at hindi na mabawasan pa,” Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro said in a statement.

“Ang panawagan na huwag *abusuhin* ng pondo ng bayan ay kaisa ang administrayong Marcos, Jr.,” the statement read.

“Nais lang din ng ehekutibo na ang proposed budget ay huwag nang mabawasan kung magiging sanhi ito ng pagkaantala sa mga programa at proyekto ng gobyerno,” she said.

The People’s Budget Coalition earlier said that the House of Representatives reallocated nearly P1 trillion from priority projects — such as the Metro Manila Subway and the North Luzon Commuter Rail — to accommodate hyperlocal infrastructure and cash aid programs in certain districts.

Marcos’s eldest son — House Majority Leader Sandro Marcos — got the biggest reallocation at over P4 billion just for his district’s engineering office, the budget watchdog said.

The President’s allies in Congress were also part of the top 10 House members whose districts got the biggest funding chunks after the legislative chamber allegedly “massacred” the 2027 budget proposed by the executive branch.

“Ang kapangyarihan na magdagdag, magbawas, mag evaluate ng  budget ay nasa kamay ng Kongreso dahil sila ang may hawak ng ‘Power of the Purse,’” Castro said.

In an earlier press conference, the Palace official also said that it is still “premature” to cast doubts on the P4 billion fund reallocated to the President’s bailiwick Ilocos as the spending bill is not yet final.

The National Expenditure Program is still being re-examined by the Senate, and will also undergo another round of deliberations in the bicameral conference committee meeting before it is submitted for the President’s signature before the end of the year.