Representatives and senators blatantly let pass the bundles of pork barrel funds embedded in the 2026 budget, all while pretending to block its insertion.

This include the ₱400 billion in allocable and ₱100 billion in non-allocable funds contained in the House of Representatives’ version. The funds are embedded in the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) budget and allocated for various infrastructure projects.

The Senate hypocritically cut ₱54 billion from the DPWH budget supposedly for having “overpriced” projects. Lawmakers then pretended to debate whether to restore the said funds to the budget. The bicam is a joint committee of senators and representatives tasked to reconcile the Senate and Congress versions of various bills, such as the General Appropriations Bill or the national budget.

“The insistence on restoring the ₱54-billion cut proposed by the Senate… [which is] a higher DPWH budget means higher kickbacks or so-called SOPs for legislators and executive officials,” the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) said in a statement on December 15.

Representatives, senators, and the president draw 20% to 25% kickbacks per infrastructure project from DPWH funds. According to Bayan, the ₱54 billion is equivalent to 25% of the allocable funds.

They also pretended to debate the allocation for the Medical Assistance for Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients (MAIFIP), a pork barrel fund disguised as health service, but ultimately retained and even increased the funds. Congress allocated ₱49.2 billion for the program, which the Senate cut down to ₱29 billion. The final figure lawmakers are pushing in the bicam is ₱51.645 billion. This amount is higher than the ₱42 billion allocated to the program in 2025. The MAIFIP goes through congressmen instead of directly to hospitals, in the form of “guarantee letters” for their constituents. This perpetuates the patronage system as representatives control who benefits from the aid.

In the latest report, Senate president Tito Sotto defended MAIFIP, claiming that it was not “pork.”

“Instead of defunding this long-abused system of requiring guarantee letters from politicians to get medical assistance, the bicam even increased the allocation to ₱51 billion… further entrenching the patronage system in healthcare,” BAYAN said.

It said the “deal” in the bicam exposes the deep roots of the pork barrel system in the budget.

“It also confirms that corruption is not an aberration but a structural feature of the current budget-making process,” the group said.

Meanwhile, the Makabayan bloc condemned the Senate for inflating what it called “LGU pork” or Allocations to Local Government Units (ALGU), particularly the Local Government Support Fund (LGSF), which the Senate almost doubled from a ₱20.2 billion allocation to ₱38.1 billion. Formerly a large item under the president’s unprogrammed appropriations fund, the LGSF received ₱16.7 billion in the form of additional aid.

“Despite the Senate’s ‘anti-pork’ posturing, these additions retain broad menus for infrastructure and financial handouts that serve political interests rather than national development planning,” ACT Teachers Partylist representative Rep. Antonio Tinio said.

On December 13, Bayan members protested in front of the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) in Pasay City, where the bicam hearing was being held.