Philippine Politics 🇵🇭
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Hi everyone! I'll be sending updates here from the ongoing House of Representatives committee town hall with civil society groups calling for a more open and transparent budget process. The town hall began with remarks from Bataan 2nd District Rep Abet Garcia, senior vice chairperson of the House appropriations committee. Committee chair Nueva Ecija 1st District Rep Mika Suansing made some remarks as well at the start.
Hi everyone! I'll be sending updates here from the ongoing House of Representatives committee town hall with civil society groups calling for a more open and transparent budget process. The town hall began with remarks from Bataan 2nd District Rep Abet Garcia, senior vice chairperson of the House appropriations committee. Committee chair Nueva Ecija 1st District Rep Mika Suansing made some remarks as well at the start.
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You can watch our livestream of the town hall here: https://www.rappler.com/philippines/video-house-representatives-committee-appropriations-town-hall-civil-society-groups-august-28-2025/
Here's a list of civil society groups present and acknowledged during the town hall (I may have missed one or two, apologies!): Bitag Media Unlimited Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids for Good Governance Center for Youth Advocacy and Networking Center for People Empopwerment in Governance (CenPeg) Citizen Watch Philippines Council for People’s Development and Governance (CPDG) Democracy Watch Philippines FOI Youth Initiative Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities DLSU Jesse Robredo Institute of Governance Makati Business Club Multiple Ed Philippines People’s Budget Coalition Safe Travel PH
Rep. Garcia began the town hall by saying this meeting was a way to give civil society "a seat at the table in shaping the 2026 National Expenditure Program." "By listening to you, we make our work as legislators more grounded and more accountable."
Rep. Suansing says this town hall is the "first of many engagements." Civil society groups like the People's Budget Coalition are calling for varying levels of access and engagements, from public access to minutes, documents, and hearings, to civil society groups considered as resource persons during budget hearings.
Liza Maza, former Gabriela party representative, is first to speak at the town hall from among the CSOs. She says the proposed 2026 national budget "lacks concrete steps to uplift people from poverty or lessen the gap between rich and poor." She laments that the budget for agriculture is less than the budget for defense and police.
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Liza Maza also expresses frustration that the budget for NTF-ELCAC has increased, saying the task force has been red-tagging civil society groups and harassing them.
Civil society representatives are asked to limit their presentations/remarks to 3-5 minutes.
One of our thought leaders DLSU's Jesse Robredo Institute of Governance head Dr Francisco Magno now speaking, recommending higher budget for Commission on Higher Education.
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More CSOs arrive: Dumper, Center for Environmental Concerns Philippines, Makabayan
Emmanuel Leyco of CenPEG flags classroom shortage and the continued presence of confidential funds in the proposed 2026 national budget "which continues to raise concerns about transparency."
Professor Leyco (CenPEG) expresses concern that national debt is projected to reach P19 trillion with debt servicing consuming 14.4%, says this is a trend demanding immediate policy action.
Leizl Adame of Center for Youth Advocacy and Networking says proposed budget shows a reduction in budget for several key educational policies. The proposed allocation for Inclusive education program, for instance, went down to P850M from P1B, likely impacting services for students with disabilities. There is also less support for culturally responsive educational policies. Allocation for text books and instructional materials reduced to P11B, from P12B this year. She laments lack of a concrete allocation for mental health in the proposed DOH budget.
LIVE UPDATES from House of Rep's town hall with civil society on 2026 national budget: Leizl Adame of Center for Youth Advocacy and Networking: Ang demokrasya, hindi totoo kung palamuti lang kaming mga CSOs. @here
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Erris Sanciangco of SafeTravelPH, a Make Manila Liveable partner of Rappler, laments the slashing of funds that goes to public transportation (outside railways). He specifies that there is not enough funding to properly implement the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program for next year.
Erris Sanciangco of SafeTravelPH: Our road-based public transportation system is dying.... The average speed of our PUVs is 9 to 14 km per hour, even slower than the popular TomTom traffic index which is around 18 km per hour for private cars. Mas mabilis pa rin ang private cars in general. Maybe exception yung EDSA busway system natin.
Erris Sanciangco of SafeTravelPH: Everyone is suffering everyday. Comparable to other social and infrastructure programs, public transportation is a critical and essential lifeline, especially for low-income households. Sila ang hindi nakakadown payment sa mumurahing sasakyan.
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Eunice Tanilon of People's Budget Coalition: In the 2026 national budget, for every P100, only P38 is left for actual programs and projects, after mandatory expenses. This means fewer resources for health, education, labor, mobility and social protections. We urge Congress to cut pork, waste and abuse so that more funds can go to lifeline services.
People's Budget Coalition says the proposed 2026 budget shows an underinvestment in the Filipino people: "The 2026 budget plans to spend only half of globally recommended levels for education, health and social protection and climate adaptation. This forces Filipino families to shoulder more of the burden for medicine, tuition and welfare leaving the poor even further behind in recovery."
AJ Montesa of People's Budget Coalition calls on House and Senate to co-create an open budget transaprency server, similar to election results servers maintained by the Comelec for the public. He asks that civil society be given a more transparent version of the budget Excel file and for civil society orgs to be "heard and considered, not merely acknowledged and set aside." Civil society groups with capacity should be tapped as resource persons and providers of technical input. He asks for more regular huddles and briefings with lawmakers and implementing agencies.
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House committee on appropriations chairperson Rep Mika Suansing's response to CSOs, summarized @here : ON EDUCATION: biggest education budget, close to 4% mandate of constitution. President agrees with bridging gap of classroom shortage. AGRICULTURE: For farm to market roads, irrigation, farm inputs, we are with you. HEALTH: We are with you on that. Kulang pa ang ating health facilities, support to indigents, support to financially-incapacitated patients. We will try to address that. Zero balance billing TRANSPORTATION: We will look at that when we look at DOTR budget, DPWH budget. CLIMATE CHANGE: I need more guidance on that matter, what areas need more funding for climate initiatives. SOCIAL WELFARE: We will make sure we prioritize funding for human capital development and social welfare programs
She reiterated commitment to opening the bicameral conference committee meetings and getting rid of the "small committee" in the House that is seen as a roadblock to transparency. She had also earlier asked civil society groups to send House budget task force their questions to specific agencies at least 24 hours before the budget hearing of the relevant agencies.
Regarding the request of CSOs for "machine readable" budget files, she asks CSOs to help advice the House task force as the chamber is only familiar with "machine searchable" formats. She will need to check if the suggestion is "practicable and technically possible."
If I may share... My friend has DIRECT EXPERIENCES with Torre—UNFORTUNATE ENCOUNTER DIRECTLY WITH TORRE. Remember, SILG mentioned about "OTHER MATTERS"---my friend is the "OTHER MATTER" being referred to. Needless to say, he's not as "good" as the public thought
If I may share... My friend has DIRECT EXPERIENCES with Torre—UNFORTUNATE ENCOUNTER DIRECTLY WITH TORRE. Remember, SILG mentioned about "OTHER MATTERS"---my friend is the "OTHER MATTER" being referred to. Needless to say, he's not as "good" as the public thought
Hi @Von Thai ! If you would like to share sensitive matters on this issue in a more private manner, you can email investigative@rappler.com