MANILA — A coalition of civil-society organizations reviewing President Marcos' proposed ₱7.2-trillion national budget for 2027 has identified ₱735.56 billion in spending — about 10.2 percent of the total — that it says warrants closer scrutiny because of the risk of political discretion and transparency gaps, according to the Philippine Star and the Asian Journal.
The figure comes from the People's Budget Coalition (PBC), a civil-society group, and is explicitly not a finding by the Commission on Audit, a court, or any government investigative body that the funds are illegal or improperly allocated. The coalition's own breakdown labels ₱140.07 billion as "soft pork" — largely social assistance and other programs it considers susceptible to political mediation — ₱483.51 billion as "hard pork," covering infrastructure spending it says needs tighter monitoring, and ₱111.98 billion as "shadow pork," its term for unprogrammed appropriations the group says raise transparency and constitutionality questions. Those category labels are the coalition's own terminology, not official government budget classifications.
Infrastructure spending makes up the largest share of the flagged amount. The administration is proposing ₱643.95 billion for the Department of Public Works and Highways for 2027, up 21.29 percent from its 2026 allocation, according to the Asian Journal's review of the submitted budget documents. The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has said projects are screened for readiness, procurement requirements, implementation capacity, and consistency with development priorities before inclusion.
On the ₱111.98 billion in unprogrammed appropriations the coalition flagged, DBM said the amount represents standby authority that can only be released once specified funding conditions are met, and that it is in fact the lowest proposed level of unprogrammed appropriations since 2019. The coalition has questioned the use of such appropriations in past budgets, though the Supreme Court has not categorically ruled them unconstitutional.
Context
The coalition's flags arrive as Congress opens what is expected to be a 53-day review of the 2027 budget, with the House appropriations committee targeting an Oct. 9 passage date. The review comes against the backdrop of the ongoing flood-control corruption scandal, in which Sandiganbayan testimony from former DPWH chief Manuel Bonoan alleged that senators received shares of a ₱24-billion "leadership fund" embedded in the public works budget — an allegation Malacañang and several senators have denied or disputed. The PBC's own pattern-recognition concern, cited by the Asian Journal, is rooted in "evidence of high politicization hijacking these programs" based on feedback from prior years' disbursement and implementation.
The proposed allocations remain subject to amendment as Congress conducts its review, and the PBC has said the flagged total could grow once lawmakers begin inserting their own provisions. Neither DBM nor DPWH has disputed the coalition's underlying budget figures, focusing their response instead on defending the screening processes used to approve the flagged infrastructure items.