Makabayan asks: How will Congress do oversight on its own allocables?

MANILA, Philippines — The Makabayan bloc has cautioned against relying on the oversight function of Congress when it comes to checking on the 2026 budget implementation, asking how lawmakers would scrutinize the allocations to projects that they themselves made.

In a joint statement on Tuesday, ACT Teachers party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio, Gabriela party-list Rep. Sarah Elago, and Kabataan party-list Rep. Renee Co asked whether proposals for an oversight committee will mean that lawmakers will investigate themselves.

The proposal for an oversight committee was raised by Senator Sherwin Gatchalian earlier, saying that both the House of Representatives and the Senate will soon form the panel for a better tracking of national expenditures.

“We should not put much credence on this supposed ‘oversight committee’ because how will Congress exercise oversight over the system of ‘allocables’ or congressional allocations for infrastructure that benefit its members?  Will the lawmaker proponents investigate themselves?” Makabayan asked.

“How will Congress exercise oversight over the various pork items that lawmakers themselves have a hand in implementing?” they added.

According to Makabayan, lawmakers are not expected to make thorough checks if making use of oversight powers would go against their “vested interests.”

“We cannot expect lawmakers to do all these things because it goes against their vested interests of taking advantage of the pork barrel system,” they said.

“The real oversight will be the public’s continuing fight against all forms of corruption.  It is the people who would monitor and fight against the abuse of public funds,” they added in Filipino.

Gatchalian said in a briefing earlier that they are working on the committee, and that he already has a list of items that he believes should be reviewed.

“For example, underspending by agencies, foreign-assisted projects, and some projects that we need to drill down further — like the construction of hospitals because our current hospitals are already overcapacity,” he said.

READ: House, Senate to form joint oversight committee on public spending

“So for things like this, when the budget comes up, it’s not just one agency in a single day. You already know the context for the budget briefings. Usually, budget briefings per agency last only one day. One day is not enough — I want the highly contentious items to be discussed ahead of time so that when the budget briefings happen, you already know the context or already have the necessary information,” he added.

This is not the first time that a lawmaker raised the possibility of using Congress’ oversight function to scrutinize budget implementation.  On Monday, after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed the 2026 General Appropriations Act (GAA), no less than House Speaker Faustino “Bojie” Dy III said that the House will be strict in scrutinizing the budget, to ensure that funds are spent efficiently.

READ: Dy vows ‘strict oversight’ over newly-signed P6.7 trillion 2026 budget

According to Dy, the enactment of the GAA is only the start of reforms, as Congress should ensure that every peso is used properly.

Then earlier, Bicol Saro party-list Rep. Terry Ridon said that proper oversight through congressional hearings will be the next step to ensure transparency in the recently-signed P6.793 trillion budget.

Ridon in a statement said that “public participation at all levels of budget implementation” will also be key in ensuring that the government is held accountable for the expenditures and programs that it would make.

READ: Congressional oversight next step towards budget transparency – solon

Oversight and CADENA

Mamamayang Liberal party-list Rep. Leila de Lima on the other hand supports calls for a joint oversight committee on the budget implementation, saying that it will be a good step towards transparency.

According to de Lima, although the 20th Congress tried to scrutinize the budget, there may have been items that went beyond their recognition — which should prompt a review and monitoring mechanism.

“We fully support this initiative to create a joint congressional committee to monitor budget spending, as our job does not end with the passage of the National Budget. It is in the best interest of Congress to make sure that the law – in this case the GAA, a most important piece of legislation – is properly and judiciously implemented,” de Lima said.

“Although we were able to do our utmost in scrutinizing the budget for this year, we cannot be complacent that this budget is corruption-free, especially since there are still unprogrammed appropriations or ‘shadow pork’, allocations for ‘soft pork’ which are prone to patronage-politics also ballooned, and there are still no big fish/es being held accountable in the massive plunder of public funds,” she added.

But aside from the oversight committee, de Lima said it would be also good if Congress can pass the proposed Citizen Access and Disclosure of Expenditures for National Accountability (CADENA) Act — a measure that Marcos himself considers to be a priority legislation.

Last December 9, 2025, Palace press officer and Undersecretary Claire Castro said that Marcos has directed Congress to prioritize the passage of the following bills intended to initiate political and systemic reforms:

• Anti-Dynasty Bill
• proposed Independent People’s Commission Act
• proposed Party-list System Reform Act
• proposed Citizens Access and Disclosure of Expenditures for National Accountability or CADENA Act

READ: Marcos to Congress: Prioritize anti-dynasty bill, 3 other measures

“Aside from this oversight committee, it would be vital to institutionalize this initiative through the passage of the Citizen Access and Disclosure of Expenditures for National Accountability (CADENA) Act. This bill, filed by Senator Bam Aquino, was already approved in the Senate, and we have filed a House counterpart of this crucial measure to implement genuine budget reform,” de Lima said.

“Through this measure, a digital budget portal will be established to make government spending accessible, searchable, and traceable throughout the entire budget cycle.  Under the CADENA Law, from the budget-crafting process up to the implementation, the people will be with us in scrutinizing and questioning the controversial allocations and transactions,” she added in Filipino. /jpv