{"id":21099,"date":"2026-08-17T08:37:25","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T00:37:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/?p=21099"},"modified":"2026-08-17T08:38:27","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T00:38:27","slug":"p7-2-t-budget-must-improve-filipinos-lives-kiko","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/index.php\/2026\/08\/17\/p7-2-t-budget-must-improve-filipinos-lives-kiko\/","title":{"rendered":"P7.2-T BUDGET MUST IMPROVE FILIPINOS\u2019 LIVES \u2013 KIKO"},"content":{"rendered":"

SENATOR Francis \u201cKiko\u201d Pangilinan said the proposed P7.2-trillion national budget must be used to improve the lives of ordinary Filipinos, particularly poor families, farmers, fisherfolk, and the youth, and must not become a source of profit for a select few.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The\u00a0veteran lawmaker, who has been championing good governance and food security for decades, stressed that government spending must translate into concrete improvements in the daily lives of Filipinos, including higher incomes for farmers and fisherfolk, lower food prices, better access to nutritious food, decent jobs, and quality education for children and young people.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cAng sukatan ng P7.2-trillion budget ay hindi kung gaano ito kalaki, kundi kung naabot nito ang mga ordinaryong Pilipino at naiaangat sila mula sa kahirapan,\u201d he said.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cDapat ramdam ito sa hapag-kainan, sa kita ng magsasaka at mangingisda, sa paaralan ng ating mga anak, at sa pang-araw-araw na buhay ng bawat pamilyang Pilipino,\u201d he added.<\/strong><\/p>\n

He stressed that agriculture and fisheries must receive sufficient and effective support so that those who produce the country\u2019s food can earn decent incomes while consumers benefit from a stable and affordable food supply.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Pangilinan pointed out that food security begins with empowering the country\u2019s food producers\u2014the farmers and fisherfolk\u2014making sure that food prices remain affordable to Filipinos.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The\u00a0budget,\u00a0he\u00a0said,\u00a0must\u00a0not\u00a0line\u00a0the\u00a0pockets\u00a0of\u00a0middlemen\u00a0and\u00a0contractors.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The senator likewise explained that strengthening domestic food production will make nutritious food more accessible to poor families, particularly children who are vulnerable to hunger, malnutrition, and stunting.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Investments in nutrition must go hand in hand with investments in education, emphasizing that children cannot fully learn and reach their potential if they go to school hungry and without adequate support.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Earlier this week, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) submitted the P7.2-trillion National Expenditure Program (NEP) for 2027 to President Ferdinand \u201cBongbong\u201d Marcos Jr. The NEP was also transmitted to Congress.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Pangilinan, who chairs the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Food, and Agrarian Reform and was instrumental in defending the Department of Agriculture\u2019s (DA) and its attached agencies\u2019 budget last year, also called for greater transparency in the monitoring of government spending.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cDapat magmatiyag ang taong bayan at dapat ang gobyerno ay open at willing sagutin ang mga katanungan tungkol sa paggasta ng budget. Ang pondo ng bayan ay dapat gastusin sa kung ano ang kailangan ng mga Pilipino\u2014hindi para palakihin ang bulsa ng iilan,\u201d he said.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Stronger transparency and accountability mechanisms are necessary to prevent waste, corruption, overpriced projects, add the undue favoring of select contractors, the lawmaker added.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cHindi lang dapat nakalista ang mga proyekto at hindi lang puro nasa kontrata ang perang nagastos at nagagastos. Dapat nakikita ito at nararamdaman ng taong bayan. Pagod na pagod na ang mga kababayan natin sa mga ghost at substandard na projects, sa kawalan ng serbisyo, at sa pangaabuso sa pera at kapangyarihan,\u201d he lamented.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd budget na ito ay para sa bayan at para sa Pilipino kaya nananawagan ako sa ating mga kababayan na magbantay, magtanong, at mag-ingay para ang gobyerno ay matakot na kayo\u2019y lokohin, nakawan, at abusuhin,\u201d Pangilinan added.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SENATOR Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan said the proposed P7.2-trillion national budget must be used to improve the lives of ordinary Filipinos, particularly poor families, farmers, fisherfolk,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":21100,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/www.journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/kiko-budget.jpg",1280,853,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/kiko-budget-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/kiko-budget-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/kiko-budget-768x512.jpg",640,427,true],"large":["https:\/\/www.journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/kiko-budget-1024x682.jpg",640,426,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/kiko-budget.jpg",1280,853,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/kiko-budget.jpg",1280,853,false],"kreeti-slider-full":["https:\/\/www.journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/kiko-budget-1280x720.jpg",1280,720,true],"kreeti-featured":["https:\/\/www.journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/kiko-budget-1024x682.jpg",1024,682,true],"kreeti-medium":["https:\/\/www.journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/kiko-budget-720x530.jpg",720,530,true],"kreeti-medium-square":["https:\/\/www.journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/kiko-budget-350x350.jpg",350,350,true]},"author_info":{"info":["admin"]},"category_info":"National<\/a>","tag_info":"National","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21099"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21099"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21099\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21102,"href":"https:\/\/www.journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21099\/revisions\/21102"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21100"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21099"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21099"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21099"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}