‘Nearly a fifth of NG budget went to pork barrel’ By Reine Juvierre S. Alberto
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CONGO STRUGGLES TO HALT REBEL ADVANCE AMID PROTESTS TARGETING 10 EMBASSIES
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HE Marcos Jr. administration has allocated nearly one-fifth of the national budget for pork barrel in the past three years, according to a public finance analyst. In an online discussion by Freedom from Debt Coalition on Wednesday, Institute for Leadership, Empowerment and Democracy Executive Director Zyza Nadine Suzara said 17.4 percent of the P11.937-trillion programmed appropriations from 2023 to 2025 are pork or soft projects. This amounts to P2.077 tril-
lion worth of legislators’ projects, which have guaranteed cash cover. “If we think about it, these programmed appropriations, these should be the portion of our budget for national development. Whether that’s infrastructure, socio-economic development programs of the [Departments of Social Welfare and Development, Education and Agriculture],” Suzara said. Despite various economic development problems the Philippines is facing, such as learning poverty, problematic support to farmers and fisherfolk, poverty alleviation and lack of healthcare access, what remains in the national budget goes only to operations of govern-
ment agencies. “So that is essentially the situation of the national budget. The 2025 national budget really just follows a pattern of massively funding pork barrel and concealing it through the unprogrammed appropriations ]UAs],” Suzara said. The 2025 national budget, which amounts to P6.326 trillion, is the “most corrupt” and “excessively greedy” budget, according to Suzara. UAs, which can only be used when there are excess revenue collections, new revenue sources or through approved loans for foreign-assisted projects, are used and bloated by Congress
to conceal the real magnitude of pork, Suzara said. Data from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) showed the approved UAs more than doubled to P251.639 billion from the proposed P151.639 billion in 2022. It again climbed to P807.162 billion from P588.162 billion in 2023. Last year, Congress bloated the UAs to P731.448 billion, 159.46 percent higher than the P281.908 billion initially proposed. In 2025, only P159 billion was proposed under UA, but P532 billion was set aside further. “There is now a trend of deprioritizing strategic programs and See “Nearly,” A2
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BSP WEIGHS RISKS FROM INFLATION IN 2025, 2026 I
By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario
F oil prices shoot up to $90 to $100 per barrel, the country’s inflation rate could breach the government target this year and next year, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).
Based on the Monetary Policy Report (MPR), the BSP estimated that should oil prices reach $90 per barrel, inflation could reach 4.1 percent this year and 4.4 percent next year. Under a $100 per barrel scenario, the BSP estimated that inflation could average 4.5 percent this year and 4.7 percent in 2026. “Inflation could breach the 2–4 percent target range if Dubai crude oil prices average above $90 per barrel in 2025 and 2026,” the BSP said in the MPR. “These oil price scenarios consider only direct effects and do not incorporate potential second-round effects on transport fares, food pric-
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TWILIGHT TREATS As commodity prices continue to rise, so do start-ups—both online and in physical spaces. Against the backdrop of a fiery sunset, a mobile food and pasalubong stall sets up shop along East Bank Road, Floodway, Pasig City, hoping to attract hungry passersby. BERNARD TESTA
es, and wage increases,” it added. The BSP said global crude oil prices are expected to decelerate in 2025 and 2026. The BSP now projects Dubai crude to average $70.05 per barrel this year and $68.15 per barrel in 2026. However, expectations that global demand would be weak and there was a likelihood of global oversupply, the BSP said, delayed the increase in oil production, which could raise prices in the near-term. “[This] led to a delay in the anticipated increase in oil production by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other See “BSP,” A2
2024 FISHERIES OUTPUT DIPS BY 5%, LOWEST IN 2 DECADES By Ada Pelonia
F
@adapelonia
ISHERIES output fell by 5 percent to 4.05 million metric tons (MMT) in 2024, the lowest in two decades, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). Preliminary data from the PSA showed that the total volume of fisheries production last year was lower than the 4.26 MMT in 2023. PSA figures also showed that the 2024 volume was the lowest since the 3.93 MMT recorded in 2004. The Philippine Chamber of Agriculture and Food Inc. (PCAFI) attributed the stunted fisheries production to factors like extreme weather conditions from climate change and overfishing. “Climate change and overfishing [likely caused the decline],” PCAFI President Danilo Fausto told the BusinessMirror on Wednesday. PSA data showed that three out of the four subsectors registered contraction last year, with the commercial fisheries subsector being the only one that rose on an annual basis. The aquaculture subsector, which contributed over half of the total fisheries out-
put, slid by 6.8 percent to 2.22 MMT in 2024 from the 2.38 MMT in the previous year. The inland municipal fisheries dropped by 4.8 percent to 166,170 metric tons (MT) year-on-year from 174,581 MT. It accounted for 4.1 percent of the total output. For marine municipal fisheries, the output shrank by 8.8 percent to 802,769 MT in 2024 from 879,961 MT recorded in the previous year. The subsector constituted 19.8 percent of the total fisheries production, based on PSA data. Commercial fisheries production last year expanded by 4.2 percent to 857,329 MT last year from 822,427 MT in 2023. The subsector’s share accounted for 21.2 percent of the total output. PSA said the species that primarily posted reductions were seaweed, down 10.5 percent to 1.46 MMT; big-eyed scad (matangbaka), 20 percent to 96,223 MT; bali sardinella (tamban), 8.2 percent to 253,356 MT; and roundscad (galunggong) 9.8 percent to 172,417 MT. Increases were noted in skipjack (gulyasan), up 31.2 percent to 277,525 MT; P. Vannamei (putian) 32.3 percent to 48,115 MT; frigate tuna (tulingan) 8.6 percent to 79,083 MT, and milkfish (bangus) 1.6 percent to 361,241 MT.
BIR eyes options vs illicit cigar trade By Reine Juvierre S. Alberto
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HE Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) is receptive to the moratorium on tobacco tax rates, coupled with stricter enforcement, as it combats a surge in illicit cigarette trade and a drop in excise tax collections. During the International Tobacco Summit on Tuesday, Internal Revenue Commissioner Romeo D. Lumagui Jr. told reporters he has no objection should a moratorium, suspending the annual 5-percent tax hike on tobacco products, be implemented.
“I think it’s a policy [issue.] Let’s see if there will be [an] improvement,” Lumagui said. However, one issue that the Bureau will face moving forward is the corresponding increase in the excise tax target collection on tobacco products as this has already been set, incorporating the assumptions of the yearly increases in the tax rate. The BIR is projected to collect P148.929 billion this year, P156.543 billion in 2026 and P164.558 billion in 2027. “If there will be a moratorium, it needs to be adjusted again because it will not take
place anymore,” Lumagui said. A moratorium was proposed by the House Committee on Ways and Means earlier due to growing concerns over a surge in the illicit tobacco trade, which has cost the government up to P129 billion in the past three years. (See: https://businessmirror.com. ph/2025/01/09/solons-seek-halt-in-annual-tobacco-products-tax-hike/). “If your excise tax rates are too high, then it’s more lucrative for the illicit traders as well,” Lumagui said. Whether the moratorium will improve the BIR’s collection of excise tax on tobacco
products or not, Lumagui said, if the tax rates are too high, then the moratorium may not be enough as it remains lucrative for illicit traders. The BIR chief illustrated the gravity of the illicit trade, wherein a pack of cigarette is sold for a price below the tax rate. Currently, the tax imposed on a pack of cigarettes costs P66.15 in 2025 while it is currently being sold for as low as P40 in the illicit market. Lumagui said the decline in the excise tax on tobacco products started when the tax See “BIR,” A2
PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 58.3770 n JAPAN 0.3779 n UK 72.9596 n HK 7.4957 n CHINA 8.0654 n SINGAPORE 43.4288 n AUSTRALIA 36.7250 n EU 61.2550 n KOREA 0.0407 n SAUDI ARABIA 15.5643 Source: BSP (January 28, 2025)