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Marc Jayson Cayabyab - The Philippine Star
January 1, 2026 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — It’s the presence of giniling or soft pork barrel funds in the 2026 national budget that Sen. Imee Marcos said made her decide against signing the Congress-ratified version of the P6.793-trillion appropriations bill.
The budget program is set for transmittal to her brother President Marcos for his signature.
“I did not sign the ‘giniling budget.’ I recognize Congress’ power of the purse, but I did not sign the 2026 GAA (General Appropriations Act) bicam report and its ratification by the Senate,” Marcos said in explaining her decision.
Giniling is Filipino term for ground meat, usually pork.
She said she had rejected the P143.83-billion increase in funding for soft pork barrel funds, from the original amount specified in the National Expenditure Program (NEP) of the President.
The senator described as “soft pork” in the 2026 outlay the Medical Assistance to Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients or MAIFIP, the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations (AICS), Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD), farm-to-market road projects, Presidential Assistance to Farmers, Fisherfolk and Families (PAFF) and Local Government Support Fund (LGSF).
Marcos said she found it irregular for flood control funds to be diverted to soft pork barrel items that have long been “linked to political incentives.”
She also flagged the P124.58-billion cut in the government’s flagship and other foreign-assisted projects of the Departments of Transportation and of Public Works and Highways.
The cut, she pointed out, would affect funding for the North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR) and the Metro Manila Subway.
“Whenever soft pork is mentioned, I can’t help but think it’s still pork barrel. Budget for this is giniling but, still pork. Pork but ground pork, so as not to be very obvious,” the senator said.
Worries over PhilHealth
Sen. Loren Legarda said she voted “with reservations” for the ratification of the proposed 2026 national budget, but raised concerns over the government’s failure to remit since 2023 billions of pesos in sin tax revenues to Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth).
She also flagged the government’s failure to remit to PhilHealth statutory shares from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. since 2019.
Rep. Isidro Ungab has also raised concerns over possible setback in the country’s effort to improve its mass transit system, following substantial cuts in the government’s counterpart allocation for the continued construction of subway and railway systems.
Japan is the subway project’s primary financier and technology partner, providing substantial Official Development Assistance loans through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
The Philippines and Japan signed a Y104.3-billion loan for the first phase of the subway project.
Rep. Leila de Lima of party-list Mamamayang Liberal, for her part, said the “continued” use of unprogrammed appropriations in the annual spending measure is “unconstitutional.”
The House, in its version of the national budget, retained UAs at P243 billion, while rejecting the Senate’s P174.5 billion.
Feasibility study
While allowing huge cuts in funding for public works, members of the bicameral conference committee have given their go-signal for a “feasibility study” for a bridge to link Luzon and the Visayas.
House Minority Leader Marcelino Libanan – a native of eastern Samar – said the Congress-approved GAA earmarks P130 million for a “feasibility study of the Luzon-Visayas bridge or tunnel project.”
The proposed Luzon-Visayas fixed link, whether built as a bridge or an undersea tunnel, is expected to move forward as a foreign-assisted project.
“FAPs are designed with built-in safeguards. Donor agencies impose strict procurement rules, require independent technical and financial reviews and release funds only after verifiable milestones are met,” Libanan explained.
In another development, the Department of Agriculture said it aims to implement P33 billion worth of farm-to-market road projects at lower costs in 2026 after taking over construction responsibilities from the DPWH, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said.
