The public can now access an independent review of the proposed P7.2-trillion national budget for 2027 through the Senate’s budget portal.
Volunteer technology group BetterGov.ph said on Nov. 3 that the Senate’s Budget Transparency Portal now directs readers to its budget website, where they can examine changes the House made to the original spending proposal. BetterGov conducted the review with the People’s Budget Coalition (PBC).
BetterGov’s tracker compares project names, locations and amounts in the House-approved budget bill with those in the National Expenditure Program, the spending proposal the executive branch submitted to Congress. Readers can check the differences against the source documents.
At an Oct. 26 hearing of the Senate finance committee, Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian said civil society groups used artificial intelligence and computer code to complete a budget review in one day. Similar reviews previously took one to two weeks, he said. The faster review gives senators more time to examine the proposals, he added.
Projects under review
In findings released on Oct. 30, BetterGov and the PBC identified 6,957 project entries worth P187.9 billion in the House bill that they could not match to entries in the executive proposal. The partial review covered public works, farm-to-market roads, health facilities and irrigation.
The groups said they were still verifying possible matches for projects worth P10.5 billion of that total. BetterGov said a change in a project’s name, location or scope could explain why an entry appears in only one version of the budget. An unmatched entry alone does not establish wrongdoing.
At an Oct. 26 press conference, House appropriations committee senior vice chair Albert Garcia said the implementing agencies had checked the projects.
BetterGov and the PBC called for the disclosure of every budget amendment, who proposed it and the reason for the change. The groups also sought supporting documents, including cost estimates, feasibility studies and engineering designs.
The Senate said the groups publish and maintain their analyses independently and that the findings do not represent the chamber’s position.
Senate finance committee chair Sen. JV Ejercito said he would invite civil society groups to observe the bicameral conference committee proceedings, where lawmakers reconcile the House and Senate versions of the budget. He said the proceedings would also be livestreamed.
