The House of Representatives has approved the Marcos administration’s P7.2 trillion budget for 2027 on third and final reading. The vote on House Bill 10858, the 2027 General Appropriations Bill, was 281 in favour, 13 against and one abstention. The Department of Education receives the largest allocation, at P1.10 trillion. The bill sets out funding for the whole of government, including the independent constitutional bodies.
Among those who voted no was Caloocan Representative Edgar Erice, who sits as an independent. He said the spending plan favours political allies, punishes critics and protects political interests at the expense of ordinary Filipinos. Erice added that he felt ashamed because, after corruption scandals and questionable insertions in earlier budgets, lawmakers appeared to have learned nothing. His vote put him among a small minority in a chamber where the measure passed with a wide margin.
Akbayan party-list Representative Dadah Kiram Ismula also opposed the bill, arguing that decisions on health funding should rest with medical experts rather than politicians. She said the health budget was not enough while billions went to items that do not directly save lives. “This is not a question of a lack of fiscal space,” she said, describing it instead as a matter of political will and empathy.
Separately, the Department of Budget and Management is drafting stricter rules to stop wasteful spending in the final quarter, when outlays usually climb. Acting Budget Secretary Kim Robert de Leon said he expects year-end parties dressed up as planning sessions. He said agencies should be judged on the results of their spending rather than how much of their budget they use, and that the government is looking at the quality of spending. Agencies, he said, could spend less while delivering more.
Figures from the budget department show notices of cash allocation rose 8 per cent to P3.62 trillion by the end of August, up from P3.36 trillion a year earlier. Over the same period, the utilisation rate across agencies slipped to 92.7 per cent from 93.8 per cent. De Leon has questioned agencies that boast of high utilisation, asking what the money was actually spent on, as the department shifts its attention from how fast funds are released to what they achieve. The budget bill now moves to the Senate for its own deliberations.
