Philippine business groups seek removal of budget insertions from 2027 spending plan

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Budget insertions removal call

Highlights

Thirty-five business and civil society groups urged lawmakers to remove all congressional insertions lacking technical basis from the proposed 2027 budget and restore cut funding for key infrastructure.
Over P180 billion was added to the Department of Public Works and Highways budget for at least 6,000 projects by reallocating P130 billion from foreign-assisted projects and reducing funds for calamity, health, and transport.
The groups warned that such insertions risk repeating previous wasteful practices, called for transparency on all budget amendments, and emphasized that a clean budget would bolster fiscal space and investor confidence.

Calls to reverse project reallocations

As reported by BusinessWorld Online, 35 business and civil society groups said in a joint statement on Thursday that lawmakers should remove every congressional insertion in the proposed 2027 budget that lacks a technical basis and restore funding for key infrastructure projects.

The statement comes after the House of Representatives earlier this month approved on third reading House Bill No. 10858, the proposed General Appropriations Act of 2027. The groups urged Senate President Sherwin T. Gatchalian, House Speaker Faustino G. Dy III, Senate Finance Committee Chair Joseph Victor G. Ejercito, and House Appropriations Committee Chair Mikaela Angela B. Suansing to review the spending bill closely.

The groups said more than P180 billion was added to the Department of Public Works and Highways budget through the Budget Amendments and Review Subcommittee. Citing independent budget watchdogs, they said the additions cover at least 6,000 projects, lifting the agency's project count in the National Expenditure Program to at least 16,000, with many appearing as lump sums for multi-purpose buildings and access and bypass roads without published project lists or named proponents.

They also said the added allocations were reportedly funded by cutting around P130 billion from foreign-assisted projects, P9.5 billion from calamity funds, P1.76 billion from the EDSA Busway budget, and P4.9 billion from health programs. The groups argued that foreign-assisted projects are among the country's most rigorously prepared infrastructure investments because they are backed by feasibility studies, financing commitments and international procurement standards.

Governance concerns and fiscal implications

The signatories, which include the Management Association of the Philippines, Makati Business Club and the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, warned against repeating earlier budget abuses. They pointed to alleged problems in the 2023 to 2025 budgets, saying insertions were linked to ghost and substandard flood control projects that wasted resources and left communities more exposed to flooding.

The groups said an item should remain in the budget only if it is supported by a feasibility study or detailed engineering design, aligns with an implementing agency's master plan, and has been validated as ready for implementation in 2027. They also called for special provisions allowing agencies to modify or replace projects after enactment to be scrapped.

They want all amendments specified down to the project, location, amount, funding source, justification and proposing legislator, and said these changes should be published before the Senate approves the budget bill on second reading and before bicameral hearings begin. The groups also said no new items should be inserted during bicameral conference committee meetings, which they want fully livestreamed.

The statement welcomed commitments by Gatchalian and Ejercito that the Senate will scrutinize the House version line by line and reject last-minute insertions, while also acknowledging Dy's pledge of an open budget process. At the same time, the groups stressed that the 2027 budget should be passed on time and said a budget free of politically driven insertions would help protect fiscal space and strengthen investor confidence.

Our earlier article on planned Philippine sovereign bond reforms explained how a new pricing convention for peso government bonds and prospective index inclusion could broaden the investor base and support liquidity. It also stressed that market benefits ultimately hinge on fiscal credibility and the quality of public spending—warning that poorly chosen, delayed, overpriced, or corruption-prone projects can negate any gains from cheaper borrowing.

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