The ambition of politicians to either land or cling to power has pushed the country to the edge. In Congress the incumbent leadership did nothing but waste time to remove VP Sara Duterte, the last impediments to their insatiable lust for power and greed for money.
Pres. Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. vetoed some items in the proposed national budget for 2025 but it was replete with generalities we do not know what those items were. It can be recalled that during the bicammeral meeting the Representatives and Senators inserted a generous and additional appropriations for themselves as though the government treasury is awash with money.
It was only when Marcos signed the General Appropriation Act that we get to learn that there were casualties which were kept secret from how the House of Representative castrated some budgetary allocations and transferred these to agencies and programs which they have the sole power and prerogative to enforce. The diabolic plot is patently unconscionable.
Take the case of multi-million budget for the National Commission for Indigenous Peoples. Davao Region, home to the most numbers of indigenous tribes in the country, the budget for the vital scholarship program for the youths of indigenous tribes was almost scrapped to the last centavo.
It is obvious now that NCIP funds for scholarship programs had been insiduously transferred to other agencies where the House leadership is in full control. This eloquently speaks of how insensitive is the House leadership.
The NCIP program is just one of the many budgetary mumbo jumbos to have absolute control of the budget. It is the same scheme used in transferring 4Ps budget under “Ayuda sa Kapos Ang Kita Program (AKAP) and Philhealth to
Medical Assistance to Indigent Patients (MAIP) where the House leadership and their allies have the sole power to select or name the recipients. Budgets for programs and projects not in accord with the House Leadership are either cut or totally discarded.
There is only one way the public can back against the malefactors who are now seeking re-election. Reject those involved in the grand conspiracy to hoodwink the people and win their votes to stay in power.
