Duterte’s Allies Accuse Marcos of Budget Manipulation

By Kelvene Requiroso

The national budget law took effect after it was signed by the president last month, but the other side of the political aisle hasn’t stopped their insinuations of corruption. 

The former president, Rodrigo Duterte, led his allies in Congress to criticize the 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA) as riddled with blank spaces, at least 13 pages, including items without appropriations that suggest a corruption scheme for future budget allocation. 

‘Magicians at play’

Isidro Ungab, a staunched Duterte ally and representative of Davao City’s third district, claimed that some sleight of hand is at work in the 2025 national budget. Ungab implied that some ‘magicians’ in Marcos’ camp, who are not lawmakers, filled the blank pages with figures that could go straight to their pockets.

“Magicians were at play. There were persons or a group of people who filled (in) these blank items (as) clearly shown in the signed Bicam Report. Who are they?” Ungab said. He accused these people of “usurping the sole power and responsibility” of lawmakers “to appropriate public funds.”

Ungab’s statement comes after a theatrical exchange of words between the camps of the sitting president and the previous occupant of Malacanang. Marcos called Duterte a liar, the same sentiment echoed by his executive secretary, Lucas Bersamin. 

DBM clarifies

The allegation by the Duterte camp prompted the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to clarify and assure the public that the president signed a complete document. What circulated online was not part of the GAA but of the bicameral conference committee (Bicam) report. The GAA or Republic Act No. 12116 is accessible online. 

Ungab, though, acknowledged DBM’s clarification that the blanks are found in the Bicam report and not on the GAA. But his statement suggests some hanky-panky was going on between the Bicam report and the GAA the president signed. It’s a sinister imputation of wrongdoing by a man who seemed to know the ins and outs of budget-making during the previous administration, where he was a majority member.    

Where to get the funds

However, amidst these allegations of corruption in the national budget, it seemed only a few cared about the source of funds for the appropriations. The secretary of the Department of Finance, Ralph Recto, earlier said that of the 6.3 trillion-peso national budget for 2025, only 4.6 trillion can be supportable by revenues. 

The question is, where would the government source the 1.7 trillion pesos? Borrowing would bury the country further in debt. And we’re not even into some key details of the appropriations yet. 

Winners and losers

The general appropriations bill proposed a 6.352 trillion peso budget. But the president reduced it to 6.326 trillion by vetoing a total of 194 billion of ‘insertions’ by the members of Congress, including the 26 billion-peso worth of public works projects and 168 billion in unprogrammed appropriations. It might have displeased some congressmen, especially since they needed funds for the May elections. 

A compromise to retain the pork barrel, Ayuda funds, of lawmakers was made — and that’s a whopping 26 billion: 5 billion for the senators and 21 billion for the members of Congress. This money should go to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) for disbursement.

GAA slashed the Department of Education’s budget by 12 billion. It was a slap to the declining quality of public education. The saddest part is that PhilHealth got zero subsidy in 2025. Lawmakers are punishing the public for the failure of the PhilHealth leadership. At the same time, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) got 1.055 trillion. 

Political theatrics

But again, all this politicizing of the national budget is to gain attention as the May election is getting closer; the Duterte camp is positioning itself to gain the upper hand in preparation for another Duterte in 2028.

To the uninitiated, Marcos-Duterte friction is something serious. However, the gravity and seriousness of the corruption allegation diminishes when the accuser is equally not so unblemished. Both have had issues of corruption. The only difference between the two is that Marcos appears to be a much better president than Duterte for setting the bar of the presidency so low between 2016 and 2022. 

About the Author

Kelvene Requiroso is a writer interested in the interplay between technology and society. He’s the director of ISMS Robotics, which promotes technology education in private and public schools (K-12).