Economist and 2028 senatorial aspirant Cielo Magno criticized the ₱4.37 billion in additional Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) allocations identified for the congressional district of House Majority Leader Sandro Marcos, questioning the funding following the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling declaring portions of the budgets unconstitutional due to Congress’ unlawful increases to the president’s proposed spending limits.
Her criticism followed findings by the People’s Budget Coalition (PBC), which flagged more than ₱1 trillion in questionable allocations in the House-approved 2027 national budget during a Senate finance committee consultation on Oct. 26.
PBC identified Marcos’ First District of Ilocos Norte as having the largest increase among the DPWH district engineering offices on its list. The district received an additional ₱4.37 billion for 405 projects, raising its proposed funding from ₱369 million to approximately ₱4.74 billion.
“Sa tindi ng kahirapan, ang sagot ng mga congressmen: more multipurpose buildings and more flood control projects! 4 billion dyan dagdag kay Sandro Marcos! At ok lang daw sabi ng Malacañang! #SandroPALDO,” Magno wrote in a social media post.
On Oct. 27, Palace Press Officer Claire Castro defended budget insertions, saying there was nothing inherently wrong with additional allocations as long as the funds were properly used and benefited the public.
“Ang insertion ay hindi po ito generally masama. Nagiging masama lang ang insertion kung ang pera ay i-insert sa bulsa ng pulitiko. ‘Yun ang masama,” Castro said during a press briefing in Cagayan de Oro City.
PBC has called for greater transparency regarding additional infrastructure projects, particularly those lacking publicly available documentation. The proposed ₱4.37 billion increase for Marcos’ district remains subject to Senate review and further congressional deliberations before the 2027 national budget becomes law.
PBC’s flagging came days after the Supreme Court struck down key provisions of the 2024, 2025 and 2026 General Appropriations Acts as unconstitutional over unauthorized congressional increases to unprogrammed standby funds and certain special accounts.
