Marcos, DBM can’t wash hands of ‘mangled’ 2025 budget – Ex-finance chief

‘He should have been aware of what was going on, and he had the opportunity to veto a lot of these things,’ says former finance secretary and business leader Ramon del Rosario Jr.

MANILA, Philippines – Business leader and former finance secretary Ramon del Rosario Jr. has put forth an important question that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has not yet fully addressed in connection with the flood control scandal: Why didn’t he use his veto power to stop the insertions in the “mangled” 2025 budget? 

On Monday, October 13, Del Rosario said in an interview on the One News business show Money Talks that Marcos cannot wash his hands of responsibility in what has been described as the worst budget in Philippine history. It saw P289 billion in net insertions by Congress in the 2025 Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) budget, of which only P26 billion was vetoed by Marcos. (Figures are from the People’s Budget Coalition’s analysis of the 2025 and 2026 national budgets.)

“I’m sorry to say, even the President, when he said, ‘Mahiya naman kayo,’ (Shame on you), that’s a little strange for him to say because it was his budget to start with. And he should have been aware of what was going on, and he had the opportunity to veto a lot of these things,” Del Rosario said, referring to Marcos’ statements in his fourth State of the Nation Address last July. In his speech, Marcos exposed corruption in poorly done flood control projects.

If he was not aware of what was going on, Del Rosario said “it should have been brought to his attention by the DBM [Department of Budget and Management] and the different department secretaries whose budgets had been mangled.”  

This way, Marcos “could have acted on it at least with full information,” and “if he did not have the information, his department secretaries were not doing their job,” he said.  

Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman has tried to distance herself from the mangled budget by saying she had no role in the National Expenditure Program revisions. The NEP, also called the President’s budget, is prepared by the DBM and submitted to Congress for review.

Del Rosario, now a co-convenor of a multisectoral group called Roundtable for Inclusive Development, said corruption in flood control and other public works projects got bigger and bigger because of “greed” and because the checks against corruption failed. 

“More and more, it became a system where everyone was in on it. The way they did it was there was something for everyone: the congressmen, the senators would connive with the executive branch so that there were percentages given to everyone along the way, all the way, including the contractors. 

“And that’s the system that evolved, and because everyone was getting a share of it, everyone decided to be tight-lipped and it just grew and grew and grew, until it became the monster that it now is. And now everybody is saying, how did this happen? It happened because people let it happen.” 

The way forward, Del Rosario said, is to make sure those responsible are held accountable, especially the “big fish.” 

“You cannot get away with all of this and think that you can get it done by just going after district engineers…. You have to go beyond that, you’ve got to go to legislators, very senior people,” he said.

Based on their conversations with people in the executive and legislative branches of government, Del Rosario said he believes “a growing number of them sincerely want to do the right thing,” although “some are in a defensive mode” because some forces are “exploiting the situation.” 

“But we’re being very clear about our position: stick to the Constitution, let’s not fool around with extra-constitutional ideas all over again. Let’s make our democracy work, is what we’re saying,” he said. 

He said the more than 20 organizations and 100 individuals in the People’s Budget Coalition, are demanding that the Marcos administration make sure that the 2026 budget is “in no way a repeat of 2025.” 

Based on the analysis by the People’s Budget Coalition of the 2026 budget, Del Rosario said it still had around P230 billion for pork barrel that will go to social programs that “make it sound like they’re highly needed.”  

He said the money should instead be allocated to the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program or 4Ps, which has very specific guidelines where beneficiaries are entitled to certain amounts based on certain school attendance and nutrition conditions.

Del Rosario warned that the people’s anger will continue unless those in power “show serious intent to change things.” 

“I think we’ve got to wake up as a people and say we deserve better than this.” 

Del Rosario is chairman and CEO of conglomerate PHINMA Corporation, which is involved in education, construction, hospitality, energy, and housing. 

He served briefly as finance secretary from 1992 to 1993 during the Fidel Ramos administration. – Rappler.com