So many things are happening in Philippine politics these days.

Amid rumors of an attempted ouster of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) held a massive two-day rally at the Quirino Grandstand, culminating in a speech of Senator Imee Marcos openly calling the President (her brother) a drug addict.

Meanwhile, there’s been a major shake-up in the Marcos administration. Romeo Lumagui, a godson of the President, stepped down on November 12 from his position as commissioner of the Bureau of Internal Revenue. The Palace gave no good reason for this.

But the bigger shocker is the concurrent resignations of Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin and Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman on November 17, ostensibly “out of delicadeza.” Days later, Bersamin said he did not really resign, but was removed from office rather unceremoniously. Adrian Bersamin, head of the Presidential Legislative Liaison Office and grandnephew of the former executive secretary, was also removed.

Finally, also on November 17, Finance Secretary Ralph Recto replaced Lucas Bersamin as the new executive secretary, and Frederick Go, Marcos’ special assistant for investment and economic affairs, became the new finance chief.

Let’s try to unpack this shake-up.

Pangandaman and the Bersamins

Amenah Pangandaman’s exit came in the wake of the videos released by former lawmaker Zaldy Co, who’s abroad and on the run.

In a series of videos, Co alleged that in 2024 he was called up by Pangandaman, who supposedly relayed a message from President Marcos instructing the insertion of P100 billion in funds in the 2025 budget.

Co supposedly confirmed this directive of Marcos with Adrian Bersamin. Days later, Bersamin, Pangandaman, Co, and ex-speaker Martin Romualdez allegedly met where Co was handed documents containing a list of P100-billion worth of public works that Marcos supposedly wanted to insert. Co then supposedly pushed back, saying that only P50 billion could be inserted.

First of all, there are glaring gaps in Co’s story. Data show that massive insertions in the budget, particularly in unprogrammed funds, have been happening since at least 2022, and that these insertions ballooned since the 2023 budget (Marcos’ first budget). (See the graph below.)

It’s also true that both Pangandaman and Congress are to blame for the ballooning of unprogrammed funds. In 2023, the proposed budget (finalized by Pangandaman) included more than P588 billion in unprogrammed funds. That’s the largest allocation for unprogrammed funds in the National Expenditure Program ever (in fact, that’s larger than the proposal for unprogrammed funds in the previous three years combined).

What this means is that even in the budget preparation and proposal stages, the executive (through Pangandaman) was already approving a bloated budget especially for public works. 

Pangandaman once tried to deflect blame by claiming that they approve agency budgets “in good faith.” But that’s a flimsy excuse. The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) is not just in charge of the ministerial task of compiling the proposed budget of agencies, they have the power and responsibility to vet proposed projects even before they submit the proposed budget to Congress.

Congress is much to blame, too. They expanded the unprogrammed funds every year since 2022 —  the final unprogrammed funds were larger than the proposed value by 37% in 2023, 159% in 2024, and 235% in 2025.

Another inconsistency in Co’s story is that he’s severely understating the extent to which insertions were made in the 2025 budget. In the bicameral conference committee last year, they inserted P288.65 billion for the budget of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH). That’s almost triple what Co was alleging the President wanted to insert.

If the budget process were really blameless, Marcos ought to stand by Pangandaman who’s been nothing but a loyal soldier so far. But by letting go of Pangandaman, Marcos seems to be trying hard to deflect blame away from himself. In the process, he appears to be corroborating Co’s video to some extent, and giving it some credence.

Are Pangandaman and the Bersamins turning into convenient scapegoats of Marcos? If so, will they eventually squeal? I’m awaiting their own tell-alls. In the meantime, Pangandaman and Co must be held responsible for the budget shenanigans. Their removal from their previous posts must not lead to a path of convenient exoneration. They must not go scot-free.

By the way, an easy way to corroborate Co’s statements is to ask former congresswoman Stella Quimbo, who’s the vice-chair of the House appropriations committee. But where is Quimbo, exactly? And why is she dead silent in all this?

Recto and Go

Recto came and went as finance secretary, but he was unable to pursue much-needed reforms leading to fiscal consolidation.

Under his watch, the debt ballooned so much that the debt-to-GDP ratio rose to 63.1% (and this is still rising, by the way). Recto also oversaw the implementation of a few new taxes, like the tax on digital services and the Capital Markets Efficiency Promotion Act or CMEPA, but not too much else happened.

When it comes to Recto’s legacy, the first thing that comes to my mind is his complicity in ordering a cash sweep of government corporations, which led to PhilHealth remitting P60 billion to the Treasury and the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (PDIC) remitting at least P107 billion. All these were brought about by anomalous provisions in the 2024 national budget.

It’s almost certain now that the P107 billion from PDIC was used to fund flood control projects. This makes Recto complicit in the bastardization of the country’s finances, and also a key enabler in the flood control mess.

On top of this, by the way, Recto also helped to set up the Maharlika Investment Fund and even became its chairperson. Recall that Maharlika was funded using the capital of state-owned banks and even some money from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. This is a red flag that should have met some resistance from the sitting finance chief. But Recto was all in.

I’m unaware that Recto did anything meaningful to resolve the growing crisis involving the pension of military and uniformed personnel (MUP). He seems to have left that big problem for future finance chiefs.

This brings us at last to Frederick Go, the new finance chief. His appointment comes with a glaring conflict of interest. Remember that before joining government in January 2024, Go was one of the more important members of the Gokongwei family, and was CEO of Robinsons Land Corporation, which is famous for its malls, hotels, resorts, and office buildings.

While he supposedly let go of these businesses, he’s still part of the Gokongwei clan, and there’s always a chance that as finance chief he will implement public policies that can benefit somehow his clan’s many business interests.

Whether in the form of tax breaks or fiscal incentives or contracts, who knows? The mere appointment of a prominent businessman as finance chief opens up substantial risks for cronyism — reminiscent of how businesspeople were given prominent roles in the past, especially during the Martial Law regime of Ferdinand E. Marcos.

Sure, Go may be a smart man, but running a business is a lot different from running the country’s finances. Public policy is a whole different ballgame from corporate policies, and as finance chief he will be often called on to make difficult decisions that may at times run counter to his family’s interests.

Then again, Marcos is a walking embodiment of conflict of interest, and appointing Go as finance chief is almost a footnote to the broader corruption scandal the country is currently facing.

In many ways, the present Marcos Jr. administration is repeating and reliving the regime of Marcos Sr. – Rappler.com

JC Punongbayan, PhD is an assistant professor at the UP School of Economics and the author of False Nostalgia: The Marcos “Golden Age” Myths and How to Debunk Them. In 2024, he received The Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) Award for economics. Follow him on Instagram (@jcpunongbayan).