CinemaBravo

Navotas Representative Toby Tiangco is calling on the House of Representatives to uphold transparency in the 2025 national budget deliberations, in line with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s recent appeal for budget reforms during his State of the Nation Address (SONA).

He emphasized that if the House is genuinely committed to transparency, it should make public the minutes of the Small Committee meetings discussing the proposed 2025 General Appropriations Act.

“At kung seryoso talaga sa transparency, i-post sa website ng House of Representatives ang minutes ng Small Committee sa 2025 Budget. Kung walang minutes, anong transparency ang sinasabi nila at bakit pa nila ito ipagpapatuloy sa 2026 Budget?”

(If they’re really serious about transparency, they should post the Small Committee’s 2025 Budget minutes on the House of Representatives website. If there are no minutes, what transparency are they talking about—and why continue this process in the 2026 Budget?)

Tiangco’s statement serves as a challenge to House leaders to show their full support for the President’s call by institutionalizing openness in the congressional budget process.

“Anong klaseng proseso ang hindi pwedeng i-record o i-review ng publiko? Gusto ba talaga nilang sundin ang panawagan ng Pangulo para sa reporma sa budget? O nagkukunwari lang?” he added.

(What kind of process can’t be recorded or reviewed by the public? Do they really want to follow the President’s call for budget reform? Or are they just pretending?)

Tiangco also took issue with the claim made by House Speaker Martin Romualdez’s spokesperson that he had only recently raised concerns about the existence of the Small Committee in the budget process.

“Sinubukan ko na yan noong una akong pumasok sa Kongreso, pero hindi umobra. Ngayong malinaw ang panawagan mismo ni President Bongbong Marcos sa SONA—transparency, lalo na sa budget—baka may pag-asa na,” Tiangco explained.

(I tried that when I first entered Congress, but it didn’t work. Now that President Bongbong Marcos has clearly called for transparency in the SONA—especially in the budget—maybe there’s a chance now.)

Tiangco reminded the House leadership that, under House rules, individual amendments to the budget should be deliberated in plenary, not behind closed doors in a Small Committee.

“Ang ibig sabihin ay base sa aming Rules, ang individual amendments ay talagang ginagawa sa plenary session. Sa lahat ng nakaraang budget, ang mayorya ang naghahain ng motion na amyendahan ang rules para gumawa ng Small Committee na binubuo ng apat na tao lamang. At sa lahat ng ipinapasang batas, sa General Appropriations Bill o budget lang ito ginagawa. Sa lahat ng ibang batas, walang Small Committee,” he explained.

(This means that under our Rules, individual amendments are really supposed to be done in the plenary session. In all past budgets, the majority moves to amend the rules to create a Small Committee composed of only four members. And this only happens in the General Appropriations Bill or the budget. In all other laws, there’s no Small Committee.)

While acknowledging that not all amendments are detrimental, Tiangco stressed that budget insertions–another form of amendment–are often made during Small Committee sessions, far from public scrutiny.

“Kaya kung walang tinatago, anong ikinatatakot nilang pag-usapan ito nang hayagan sa open session? Ang matatakot lang sa public discussion ng individual amendments ay yung may itinatago. Kung maganda ang intensyon, bakit ayaw nilang gawin din ito sa harap ng taumbayan sa Plenary Session?”

(So if they have nothing to hide, why are they afraid to discuss it openly in a session? The only ones who fear a public discussion of individual amendments are those hiding something. If their intentions are good, why not do it in front of the people in the Plenary Session?)

“Halos isang buwan pinag-uusapan ang budget. Bakit dedesisyonan ng apat na tao sa tagong paraan ang amendments dito kung puwedeng lantaran itong pag-usapan? Apat na tao lang ang bumubuo ng Small Committee, sila na lang ba ang Kongreso?” he added.

(The budget is discussed for nearly a month. Why should four people secretly decide on the amendments when it can be openly discussed? The Small Committee is made up of just four people—are they now the entire Congress?)