President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is being called to veto around ₱319 billion in the 2026 General Appropriations Act, which a watchdog flagged as containing questionable and last-minute allocations.
Social Watch Philippines claimed that major adjustments were made outside public scrutiny, undermining the transparency of the bicameral process for the ₱6.793-trillion budget.
The bicameral conference committee report was ratified on December 29, despite concerns that some financial assistance programs could be used for political patronage.
Senate Finance Committee chair Sherwin Gatchalian defended the measure as a “people-first” budget focused on education, health, and agriculture, a claim contested by the watchdog group.
SWP said last-minute insertions and lump-sum appropriations represented a return to discretionary and opaque spending practices prone to favoritism.
Among the items cited for veto were increases in infrastructure programs, agricultural support, confidential funds, and social protection programs totaling billions of pesos.
The group urged Marcos to veto the flagged items, strengthen anti-patronage safeguards, and enforce strict transparency rules to restore public trust in the budget process.