Business groups call for transparency in budget process

February 6, 2025 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines —  Business groups yesterday pushed for reforms to make the budget process more transparent and to ensure it prioritizes the needs of the Filipino people amid the issues surrounding this year’s national budget.

In a joint statement released yesterday, the Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines, Fintech Alliance.PH, Justice Reform Initiative, Management Association of the Philippines, Makati Business Club, Philippine Business for Social Progress and the University of the Philippines School of Economics Alumni Association emphasized the need for reforms in the budget process.

They stressed that the national budget should prioritize the needs of the Filipino people, in accordance with the guidelines set forth in the Constitution.

This year’s budget, however, was substantially changed by the bicameral committee, with significant reductions of over P200 billion for health care, social services and education projects, the business groups revealed.

“In place of these programmed projects, the bicameral committee inserted local infrastructure projects and types of unconditional cash transfers which, we believe, promote a culture of patronage and dependency,” they said.

“These types of programs are vulnerable to politicization and raise concerns of pork barrel practices, especially in light of the upcoming elections. This is the very practice that the Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional in the PDAF (Priority Development Assistance Fund) case,” they added.

While the groups recognize the President’s veto of P26 billion from the net P289 billion worth of congressional insertions into the budget of the Department of Public Works and Highways during the bicameral conference committee, they said that the 2025 budget still fails to address the needs of the nation, with many social services being defunded.

Due to this failure, the groups are calling for greater transparency in the budget process.

“The records of the discussions must be released and made accessible to the public, to ensure transparency and accountability,” the groups said.

The business groups suggested for citizens to be allowed to provide input on the macroeconomic assumptions and budget priorities set by the Development Budget Coordination Committee, stating that “this will ensure the budget reflects the real needs of the people.”

They also expressed support for conditional cash transfers and called on the Department of Social Welfare and Development secretary to release a list of beneficiaries per barangay, as well as the details of the beneficiaries of any cash transfer.

“On top of this, we urge the creation of institutional safeguards to control the use and allocation of unprogrammed funds. Unprogrammed funds should serve its main purpose – which is for emergency or unexpected expenses,” the groups added.