Philippines’ project budget allocations spur accusations of pork barrel politics

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Watchdogs say the Philippines’ proposed 2027 budget contains infrastructure projects mapped to implausible locations, including the sea and desert. The discrepancies have fueled accusations of pork-barrel politics and raised concerns about transparency and accountability in the proposed 7.2-trillion-peso budget.

A road project with coordinates pointing to Nigeria. A government building apparently located in the Sahara Desert. Another road mapped to a sea near Brunei. These are among the unlikely locations listed for infrastructure projects in the Philippines’ proposed 2027 national budget, according to independent watchdogs that have discovered the discrepancies, highlighting problems with government transparency and accountability. Their scrutiny of Manila’s proposed 7.2 trillion pesos (US$114 billion)...