𝗖𝗲𝗻𝗣𝗘𝗚 𝗨𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝗣𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲-𝗖𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲 𝗡𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗕𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲𝘁, 𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗹 𝗦𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗲𝘁𝘆 𝗥𝗼𝗹𝗲

As Congress deliberates on the proposed ₱6.793 trillion national budget for 2026, the Center for People Empowerment in Governance (CenPEG) stressed the urgent need to realign fiscal priorities toward social services and inclusive development.

According to Prof. Noel Leyco, Senior Fellow and Trustee of CenPEG, “𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘣𝘶𝘥𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘢 𝘴𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘵—𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺’𝘴 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴. 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘱𝘦𝘴𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘶𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮𝘴, 𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘴, 𝘧𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘳𝘴. 𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳’𝘴 𝘣𝘶𝘥𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦’𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘧𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘨𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦.”

Key Concerns Raised by CenPEG

𝟭. 𝗥𝗲𝗯𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗕𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗣𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲’𝘀 𝗪𝗲𝗹𝗳𝗮𝗿𝗲

While infrastructure spending through the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) remains significant, CenPEG warned that it risks overshadowing urgent needs in education, health, housing, and social protection.

For example, of DepEd’s ₱928 billion allocation, only ₱25.4 billion—or just 2.7%—is earmarked for school building shortages.

Debt servicing is projected to take up 14.4% of total appropriations, as the national debt nears ₱19 trillion.

𝟮. 𝗘𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗮 𝗣𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲’𝘀 𝗔𝘂𝗱𝗶𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆

CenPEG reiterated its call for a People’s Audit—a participatory and independent mechanism to ensure funds reach their intended beneficiaries.

“A People’s Audit can strengthen accountability and incentivize more responsive governance,” Leyco emphasized.

𝟯. 𝗚𝘂𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗲 𝗚𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗣𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲’𝘀 𝗢𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 (𝗣𝗢) 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁

While interim House guidelines now allow civil society participation in budget hearings, CenPEG noted that clarity and inclusiveness remain lacking.

CenPEG urged Congress to:

Define clear procedures for PO participation (submissions, testimonies, hearings).

Ensure representation of diverse sectors including teachers, health workers, farmers, urban poor, PWDs, and others.

Guarantee that PO inputs are reflected in actual committee deliberations and allocations.

𝟰. 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀: 𝗖𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗣𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗕𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗗𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗯𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀

Rebalance allocations toward education, health, social protection, housing, and climate resilience.

Mandate a People’s Audit at both national and local levels, with findings disclosed publicly.

Institutionalize meaningful PO engagement through clear guidelines and capacity-building support.

Demand full transparency on confidential funds and debt servicing.

Closing Appeal

Prof. Leyco concluded:

“𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙪𝙙𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙗𝙚 𝙖 𝙙𝙤𝙘𝙪𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙝𝙤𝙥𝙚, 𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙡𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙙𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙡𝙤𝙥𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩. 𝘽𝙮 𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚’𝙨 𝙬𝙚𝙡𝙛𝙖𝙧𝙚, 𝙙𝙚𝙚𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙘𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙡 𝙨𝙤𝙘𝙞𝙚𝙩𝙮 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙞𝙥𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙘𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙢𝙚𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙨𝙢𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙋𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚’𝙨 𝘼𝙪𝙙𝙞𝙩, 𝙬𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙩𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙥𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙘 𝙛𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙗𝙪𝙞𝙡𝙙 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝙜𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚.”###