Several budget watchdogs have observed the same thing. The Congress budget sessions are mere performance art. I’ve seen how government organizations skip nights and work nonstop for weeks to submit their budgets, and it turns out these are all useless because at the end of the whole budget hearing charade, the all powerful bicam committee goes into a private room, completely ignore the requested budgets and make up their own in most cases without a single document justifying it.
When the flood control issue came out I was shocked just like anyone, but eventually it became obvious to me that it was actually a case of a lack of checks and balances. Again that mysterious bicam committee, the committee of all committees that has bestowed upon itself complete and utter unmitigated control of the whole country’s money, just goes into a room and decides how much goes to whom and what for, with any of those details being whatever the fuck it wants because no one is in there to contest anything.
Apparently I wasn’t alone and I suspected there were others as well, because watchdogs came into existence. These citizen led groups that have had enough went into action and demanded, far too politely for my taste, to observe this process. Alas, despite their efforts they were still not allowed inside the dark and mystical private room where the budgets, prepared meticulously for weeks by government organizations are used as props as they give way to their own personal ‘projects’, many of which are of no real significance, such as the uber popular ‘multi purpose building’ and ‘farm to market roads’.
Tell me honestly, if this doesn’t make you angry, what will?
Let’s talk specific examples. The bikers for example, what bike lanes on city streets. Why doesn’t that happen? Because the fucking budget where it would have been laid out and studied was thrown away in that bicam committee meeting.
Ok that was a small example, so let’s go big. How about airports, bus terminals, Metro trains, subways and cross – country railways that will help transfer freight and people to and across cities and town across the country, decongesting the city and making it more livable, creating more employment, more use of idle land and improving lives of millions of Filipinos? Well you can fuck that idea away, because a congressman used the money that would’ve been spent for that to buy a huge mansion, a private jet and unlimited travel for his jetsetting children who flaunt it all on social media.
What other examples could possibly get a rise out of people?
Bulacan is under water even during summer. There was going to be money appropriated for this.
Filipino children’s reading comprehension, science and math skills are amongst the worst in the region. They have shown promise and this would have been helped further as there was going to be an increase in public school teacher’s salaries to P50k+-. This will make a teaching career far more attractive to pursue than to clean houses or care for another family’s aged in another country as you sacrifice your own, not to mention attract far more qualified professionals to teach our youth. There was going to be money appropriated for this.
As we speak, early in the morning, there are tens of people lining up outside government buildings and hospitals hoping to receive a recommendation letter of some sort (I don’t know what its called) from a governor, mayor or congressman, so they can receive free or discounted medical care or medicines. Mind you, these would have been given free because again, there was going to be money appropriated for universal healthcare, but instead of giving it for free people have to ask for it from the ‘mabait’ elected government official.
Oh and next year is an election year. I still remember that video of someone pulling out stacks of cash from a sack as he was standing near a candidate’s headquarters purportedly to pay voters with. I never knew what became of that and it still angers me to this day.
Well Guess what it’s going to happen again. Money that is supposed to improve our lives or if not our lives the lives of our children, the lives of our aged and sick, that would have given us dignity, that would have given our military the ability to repulse China, that would have given our OFWs a chance to come back and raise their families, that would have given entrepreneurs an opportunity to create products and services that can compete in the world, that would have given hope and the glimmer of opportunity for our youth that is about to set out in this world and who will inherit it from us and whose burden will be even greater given our inaction.
Again if that doesn’t rile you up what would? Now is the time for protest I cannot think of any better more unifying reason than that immoral and vile bicam committee.