Overwhelmingly underfunded

November 8, 2025

“As I was being wheeled out of the hospital, I took vivid mental note of the institution’s decrepit condition – details I may have overlooked while receiving care from our underpaid health workers.”

About the recently-enacted 2025 national government budget

December 31, 2024

Pres. Marcos Jr said that the newly signed General Appropriations Act for 2025 reflects the government’s commitment to “[transform] economic gains into meaningful outcomes for every Filipino.” The Php6.326-trillion national budget however only reinforces the country’s undemocratic politics and inequitable economy. It still has hundreds of billions of pesos for pork barrel projects, confidential and […]

IBON Executive Director Sonny Africa on enacted 2025 national government budget

December 31, 2024

The people have to beg and struggle for every precious peso for education, health, housing and ayuda that they’re entitled to as a matter of right, and that the government should give as a matter of obligation

Marcos Jr administration’s 2025 budget priorities

October 28, 2024

Under the knife: the 2024 health budget

September 8, 2023

FEATURE

The 2024 proposed health budget reflects the Marcos Jr administration’s utter neglect of public health.

National budget for 2024: A Budget Badly Made (Part 3)

August 25, 2023

FEATURES

The budget is only one of the wide range of policy measures the government has to spur growth, develop the economy, and improve the conditions of the people. The attention the public gives is well-deserved because the budget can do so much so quickly to achieve these.

National budget for 2024: A Budget Badly Made (Part 2)

August 25, 2023

FEATURES

Band-aids are not necessarily a bad thing. Social spending can be wielded to improve people’s conditions – which is important in itself even if not prioritized by the administration. But it can also be used to increase overall aggregate demand and stimulate the economy – which presumably even a narrow, growth-fixated mindset would appreciate.

National budget for 2024: A Budget Badly Made

August 25, 2023

FEATURES

Contrary to incredible “pro-poor” claims, the proposed 2024 national budget’s numbers tell a much different story about the administration’s priorities.

Marcos Jr administration’s 2024 budget priorities

August 18, 2023

The government’s budget has for years been biased for big-business infra, debt-servicing and military, while allocations for social services, agriculture and labor have been lacking. The Marcos Jr administration’s 2023 budget was no different – how about the proposed 2024 budget?