Finally, reforms?

SKETCHES

- ANA MARIE PAMINTUAN

Livestreaming of the entire budget deliberations, including those in the Chamber of Secrets where all the hocus-pocus takes place, the bicameral conference. Civil society representatives, particularly those with budgeting expertise, sitting in as observers in the House budget deliberations. Are these sincere reforms in Congress, or mere token gestures?

Cut the lawmakers some slack, o ye of little faith; these are laudable moves for transparency. The proof of the pudding, however, would be how the 20th Congress handles the National Expenditure Program for 2026. Many of the lawmakers are the same folks responsible for mangling beyond recognition the NEP for this year, institutionalizing thievery and producing the most corrupt budget ever.

At this point, all the newfound commitment to transparency and accountability is still in the realm of OPM—oh promise me—as cringeworthy as lawmakers' lusty applause for President Marcos when he told them to their face, "mahiya naman kayo!"

BBM, stressing that he's not (yet) accusing anybody, nevertheless released a list of the top 15 contractors who have been blessed with the lion's share of flood control projects since 2022. This was juxtaposed with a list of the places that have suffered the worst flooding in the past three years.

Since jumping to conclusions is a national pastime, of course the malicious-minded among us computed one plus one equals two, and inferred the message in BBM's non-accusatory lists.

We eagerly await the privilege speech next week of Sen. Panfilo Lacson, who says he has been inundated with tips about anomalies since the launch of BBM's "sumbongsapangulo" website.