‘Sakit sa heart’: Anne Curtis expresses dismay over government’s 2024 budget allocation

Actress-host Anne Curtis took to social media to air her dismay over the government’s budget allocation for 2024.

On X, the It’s Showtime host reacted to a video of Dr. Cielo Magno, an associate professor at the University of the Philippines (UP) School of Economics, together with Internet personality Red Ollero from the latter’s “Long Conversation: The Medyo Serious Talk Show” which aired last Oct. 15 on CignalTV and One News’ platforms.

The three-minute snippet of the discussion showed Ollero asking Magno how she would grade or assess the government’s budget allocation for the country.

Magno did not hold back, responding, “Based dun sa 2024 experience, bigyan ko s’ya ng failing grade.”

Magno expressed frustration over the lack of transparency in the budgeting process, noting that while initial budgeting is publicly accessible, final decisions are made by only a few representatives.

“Ang pinaka-frustrating dun sa buong proseso, parte ‘yung pagiging transparent nga kaya napapanood ng mga tao pero dun sa final stage ng budgeting, finafinalize lang ‘yan ng mga konting representive, ng mga congressman, at tsaka mga konting representative ng mga senador,” she stressed.

Such decisions are made by the bicameral conference committee, which according to the Supreme Court, is “composed of eight members of the Senate and sixteen members of the House of Representatives, and was formed to reconcile the conflicting provisions of the House and Senate versions of the bill”.

Magno went on to allege that the final budget was extensively altered, leading to substantial increases for some departments.

“Kaya lang ang nangyari dito sa 2024 […] dinoktor-doktor nila completely! Binago-bago,” she claimed.

“After nag-bicam, ‘yung budget ng senado lumaki by 2 billion pesos, ‘yung budget ng House of Representatives lumaki by 12 billion. Tapos itong unprogrammed appropriation program […] lumaki by 450 billion pesos. At itong Department of Public Works and Highways lumaki by 175 billion pesos.

The UP professor further argued that a department’s budget increase should be based on their performance, which some have failed to deliver in past years.

“Dapat performance based. So nung prinepare tong mga budget to […] batay yan doon sa performance nila the previous years kung gaano sila kagaling mag-implement ng mga projects nila.

When asked why such increases were permitted, Magno reiterated the need for transparency in the final deliberations, which are unmonitored as they are not live-streamed, unlike other hearings.

“Nangyari lahat ng ito sa bicameral committee na kung saan hindi naka-livestream! So hindi mo namo-monitor, hindi mo alam kung sino yung mga naglalagay ng insertion na ‘yan,” she explained.

By the time the budget was returned to the Senate and House of Representatives, she noted, it was likely that few had read it before approval.

“Pagbalik niyan sa senado at tsaka sa House Representatives, siguro wala ng nagbasa, in-approve na. So ‘yun na ‘yung budget natin ngayon,” Magno speculated.

It is worth noting that Magno was a former Department of Finance (DOF) undersecretary before filing her resignation in September 2023.

In reaction to the discussion, Anne wrote on X, “ANG laki laki ng budget Nila. Mapapatanong ka Talaga e. Kamusta nga ba ang performance so far ng bawat department? Sakit sa heart”

Netizens quickly echoed Curtis’s frustration, sharing their own concerns about the government’s budget allocation in the replies to her post.

This is not the first that Anne has spoken up on pressing issues in the country on social media.

Last March, Curtis, along with other personalities raised concern over the controversial resort built on the foot of Chocolate Hills. Before this, she also raised awareness of the alleged drilling operations threatening Masungi Georeserve’s conservation area in Tanay.