PORK POLITICS: Antique leads in allocable, non-allocable funds in WV

By Rjay Zuriaga Castor

The lone district of Antique, represented by Rep. Antonio Agapito “AA” Legarda Jr., has emerged as the top beneficiary of discretionary infrastructure funds in Western Visayas, leading the region in both “allocable” and “non-allocable” project allocations.

(AA Legarda is the brother of Senator Loren Legarda, mother of Batangas first district Rep. Leandro Leviste)

An investigation by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) revealed that in the 19th Congress, Antique’s district was assigned an annual allocable ceiling of more than PHP 1.724 billion—or approximately PHP 5.202 billion across 2023 to 2025.

In contrast, the 11 other district representatives in Western Visayas received significantly lower allocations during the same period, ranging from PHP 1.4 billion to PHP 581 million.

According to the PCIJ, the total allocable amount per district representative in the 19th Congress is computed as: (allocable per year × 3) + PHP 30 million. The additional PHP 30 million applies to all district representatives in 2025.

 

Former Iloilo 5th District representative Raul “Boboy” Tupas’ district received the second-highest three-year total in the region, with an annual ceiling of PHP 1.439 billion or PHP 4.348 billion.

The rest of the region’s lawmakers were assigned annual allocations between PHP 1.1 billion and PHP 1.3 billion. These include representatives from Iloilo’s 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th districts; Aklan’s 1st and 2nd districts; Capiz’s two districts; and Iloilo City’s lone district.

At the bottom of the list was Guimaras Rep. Ma. Lucille Nava, whose annual allocation of PHP 581 million—totaling PHP 1.77 billion over three years—was less than half of what most of her counterparts in larger districts received.

Western Visayas received over PHP 14.992 billion in allocable funds per year, totaling PHP 45.338 billion from 2023 to 2025.

The new pork barrel? 

The People’s Budget Coalition, an anti-graft advocacy group, defines allocables as “discretionary, politically motivated” funds used for “politically determined projects that crowd out more equitable and accountable public spending.”

Retired Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) undersecretary Roberto Bernardo, who was involved in Senate investigations on alleged ghost flood control projects, explained that allocables are essentially the district representatives’ DPWH pork barrel, lodged in the National Expenditure Program (NEP).

While the executive branch sets the overall amount of allocables, legislators retain control over how these are spent.

District engineers inform congressmen of their allocable ceiling and provide a menu of potential projects—such as roads and streetlights—for the lawmaker to select from.

Bernardo also alleged that former DPWH undersecretary Maria Catalina Cabral, who oversaw Planning, Public-Private Partnerships, and Information Management Services, invented the allocable formula.

According to him, Cabral was the only official who fully understood the formula, which was never explained to others in the department.

The computation of allocable amounts, including Antique’s large share, is based on a secretive mechanism known as the “High-Level Budget Allocation Formula,” which includes the “BBM Parametric Formula.”

This formula considers district size and population but also includes a wide range of undefined factors, allowing some areas to receive additional infrastructure funding for poverty alleviation, disaster resilience and budget performance.

While the initial allocable ceiling is set early in the NEP, it can be changed during the budget process, including in the final version of the NEP or during bicameral conference committee deliberations.

The free-for-all pork

PCIJ’s review of DPWH documents also revealed substantial “non-allocable” or “outside allocable” projects lodged in district engineering offices (DEOs).

While DPWH officials define non-allocables as core national projects—such as big-ticket programs and national highways—former officials said these funds also operate as a “free-for-all” pool of influence.

These funds may be directed by senators, party-list lawmakers and executive officials who insert projects into specific districts or DEOs.

Unlike allocable funds, non-allocables cannot be modified by district representatives, even though the projects are located in their jurisdictions.

In 2025, the Antique DEO received the largest non-allocable allocation in the region at PHP 3.725 billion, followed by Iloilo’s 6th DEO at PHP 3.483 billion.

 

Other high-ranking DEOs include the Guimaras DEO, Iloilo’s 2nd and 1st districts (ranging from PHP 1.348 billion to PHP 1.391 billion), and Iloilo’s 5th district at PHP 1.133 billion.

Iloilo City’s DEO was allocated PHP 1.015 billion, while Capiz’s 1st and 2nd districts received PHP 904 million and PHP 665 million, respectively.

Aklan’s 2nd district received PHP 594 million; Iloilo’s 2nd district, PHP 585 million; and Aklan’s 1st district, PHP 455 million.