Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Bañez Magalong. BENJAMIN MAGALONG FB PAGE
MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang on Thursday dared Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong to show evidence to prove his claim that the P6.236-trillion national budget for 2025 was passed by lawmakers as an “election fund.”
Presidential Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro, the Palace press officer, challenged Magalong to prove his allegations.
The mayor, a retired chief of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group of the Philippine National Police, made the allegation in an interview with reporters in Baguio earlier this week.
“Where can you find just a few people, lawmakers, who agreed among themselves to change the entire bicameral [committee report], the NEP (National Expenditure Program)?” he said. “And you can see the funds that were put in there. Obviously, they had turned the GAA (General Appropriations Act) 2025 into election funds.”
Castro said in a press briefing it would have been better if Magalong had spoken up with evidence and given a copy to the Presidential Communications Office “so we can find out if there is truth to his accusations.”
Sweeping accusations
Castro, a lawyer, pointed out that Magalong, as a former police investigator, should show proof to bolster his allegations.
She said that he should not make sweeping accusations without evidence. She asked whether he would be willing to testify as a witness in cases questioning the 2025 national budget.
“It is difficult to make general accusations without going into details, because this will tarnish the image of the government and politicians, who are mostly innocent,” she said.
Castro urged Magalong to submit his evidence to her “so that issues can be clarified further,” referring to the petition assailing the 2025 national budget before the Supreme Court.
In January, former executive secretary Vic Rodriguez and other lawyers allied with former President Rodrigo Duterte challenged the constitutionality of the 2025 national budget before the Supreme Court, citing the blanks in the bicameral conference committee report as a blatant violation of the 1987 Constitution.
Social amelioration funds
Magalong had also alleged that members of the House of Representatives received social amelioration funds whenever they joined Speaker Martin Romualdez in his out-of-town events.
House minority leader and 4Ps partylist Rep. Marcelino Libanan denied Magalong’s claims. He said the release of public funds from social welfare programs, like those from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), were not controlled by politicians.
READ: Lawmaker reacts to Magalong’s allegations vs Romualdez
Castro said she was told by the DSWD that any Filipino in need could seek assistance from the department, even if they didn’t have a referral from national or local officials.
“Anyone with a valid request that can be vetted by the DSWD can seek help,” she said. “The DSWD said the money they give out as aid come from the DSWD’s funds. If a politician gives out aid as well, then that comes from his or her own funds.”
P26 billion for Akap
Social Welfare Secretary Rex Gatchalian said the Ayuda Para sa Kapus ang Kita Program (Akap), which was allocated P26 billion for 2025, would be prioritized for areas with high poverty incidence this year to ensure that only those needing relief are given grants.
The distribution of the Akap funds to DSWD field offices will be “needs-based,” with official poverty rates per area as the “primary indicator.”
Akap provides financial aid to those severely affected by inflation, with incomes that are below the minimum wage rates.
Akap assistance includes medical, funeral, food, and cash aid that are provided directly to qualified beneficiaries through the DSWD’s crisis intervention units or sections at the central and field offices.
Gatchalian said that some of the funds for certain areas that were not able to use all of the money allocated to them were transferred to other localities.
According to DSWD data, the Cagayan Valley and the Davao and Caraga regions were able to fully use all of their allocations last year.
In case a DSWD field office has untapped Akap funds likely due to fewer claims for cash grants, the money could be diverted to another office that needs additional funds. But the department has to first make an assessment before it would “shuffle around” its resources, said Gatchalian.
This is part of the “quarterly assessment” that the DSWD conducts on the obligation and disbursement rates not only of Akap, but of their other social amelioration programs, he said.
READ: Poll bets in ‘ayuda’ distribution may lead to lifted spending ban exemption
DSWD guidelines
On March 6, the DSWD released a new set of guidelines with the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) for a stricter and more transparent mechanism for this program to keep it from being used for politicking.
This includes banning the presence of politicians and political-related banners and tarpaulins during payout activities in and outside DSWD offices. (See story on this page)
A real-time progress report of the Akap fund utilization, which will be a new system for monitoring, will be put up on the DSWD website. The field offices will have to submit their reports regularly containing financial data and a “narrative analysis” of the program status in their area.
The name and the province of residence of beneficiaries who already got Akap assistance will also be posted. Other information, however, will be kept confidential to protect privacy.
Responding to Magalong’s claim that he received death threats for speaking up about the 2025 national budget, Castro said he should use his experience as a police investigator to find out where the threats were coming from.
“If he can prove that this was because of his alleged exposè on the election funds in the GAA, then it would be better for him to investigate it and present evidence. Then we will help him if there are really death threats,” she added.
Aiming for ‘critical mass’
Magalong did not respond directly to Castro’s offer to review any evidence he had regarding the use of this year’s budget for the midterm polls. He is running for his third and last term as Baguio mayor.
But he told the Inquirer on Thursday that he would not stop calling out all officials, including top legislators, allegedly liable for corruption.
“I will continue until we achieve a critical mass (of Filipinos) who will denounce leaders who steal their money,” he said on the sidelines of a good governance forum at Camp 7 barangay community on Kennon Road.
Magalong said he was informed that some government employees report to congressmen whenever the release of social amelioration or special aid had been scheduled. He did not elaborate.
Now that the campaign season has started, lawmakers seeking reelection have been flooding the internet with videos that insinuate or outrightly boast about their role in distributing “ayuda” he said.
Alleged kickbacks
Magalong told his audience that a congressional leader and his accomplices allegedly pocketed P12 billion in kickbacks from government projects. He did not identify them.
Some of these kickbacks came from bloated projects in Baguio and Benguet province such as roads and traffic equipment and very expensive street lights.
“But the consequences of fighting corruption have been high,” Magalong told them.
“Massive amounts of money are now being used to destroy our reputations,” he said, citing fellow government advocates of his good governance movement, “Mayors for Good Governance, who have spoken out against irregularities in government.
He said the attacks against him involved, among other means, taxi-drivers who are paid P600 to mislead their passengers about his supposed investments and business interests.
