THE Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Philippines pressed Congress to scrutinize the Office of the President’s (OP) proposed budget and specifically scrap its P4.1 billion confidential and intelligence funds (CIF), calling it a “ghost budget” — invisible, untouchable, and unaccountable to the public — that must be rechanneled to education and social services.
“Habang ipinagkakait ang pondo sa mga silid-aralan, guro, at kagamitang panturo, walang kahihiyang inuuna ng Malacañang ang intelligence funds at pondo para sa militaristang panunupil. Ang totoo, ito ang tunay na pork barrel ni Marcos Jr., at kung sinsero ito sa kaniyang deklarasyon laban sa korupsiyon dapat siya mismo ang manguna sa pagwakas nito—starting with his office!” said ACT Chairperson Vladimer Quetua.
The teachers’ group also slammed the continued practice of shielding the president’s budget from questioning. “Panahon nang isantabi ang parliamentary courtesy na nagiging tabing ng “ghost budgets” at korapsyon. Ang Office of the President mismo ang dapat masusing busisiin dahil dito dumadaloy ang pinakamalalaking pork barrel funds,” Quetua added.
ACT highlighted that P4 billion in intelligence funds are directly lodged under the OP, a blank check with no transparency or accountability. The group also opposed the proposed P8.1 billion allocation for the P10 million-per-barangay program in 808 so-called “cleared barangays” identified by the NTF-ELCAC, calling it nothing more than funding for witch hunts and red-tagging.
“Habang kulang ang 165,000 silid-aralan, 150,000 guro, at milyun-milyong aklat at kagamitang panturo, inuuna ni Marcos Jr. ang pondo para sa paniniktik at panunupil,” Quetua stressed.
The group stressed that Marcos Jr. himself promised to address education shortages at the school opening last June and in his 2025 State of the Nation Address, yet the proposed 2026 education budget leaves untouched the backlogs of 165,000 classrooms, 150,000 teachers, tens of thousands of non-teaching staff, and millions of textbooks and learning materials.
ACT reiterated its call to re-direct pork barrel allocations, intelligence funds, and the NTF-ELCAC budget toward urgent social needs.
“Ang bilyon-bilyong pondo na inilaan para sa intel at red-tagging ay dapat i-riderihe sa edukasyon at serbisyong panlipunan. Kung seryoso si Marcos Jr. sa kanyang mga pangako, dapat niyang unahin ang pag-ahon ng edukasyon mula sa krisis imbes na pagtakpan ang korapsyon at panunupil ng kanyang administrasyon,” Quetua concluded
