Angry nerds

Critics of the national budget, recently approved by the House, are being criticized for their ignorance by Deputy Speaker Ronnie Puno. However, his claim is far from the truth. For instance, Dr. Cielo Magno, a UP Economics professor, has criticized the budget for diverting funds toward temporary political gains instead of promoting long-term human capital development.

She has also highlighted a rise in pork barrel funds and criticized the reduction of counterpart funding for international projects, which is hindering vital infrastructure development and increasing the government's commitment fees to maintain credit lines. The civil society budget watchdogs, such as BetterGov.PH and the People’s Budget Coalition, are composed of well-educated professionals who utilize data analytics and AI to scrutinize the budget proposals.

They have exposed billions of pesos in hidden budget allocations and are determined to continue their efforts to expose corruption. The CADENA Act, or Blockchain the Budget bill, has passed the Senate but remains stalled in the House of Representatives. This law mandates the recording of all budget stages on a secure, tamper-proof digital ledger.

The budget process flaws highlighted by the angry nerds include hard-law spending and soft-revenue forecasts, making it difficult for the government to adjust spending based on actual revenue. The combination of these issues has led to a significant debt-to-GDP ratio, which, if left unchecked, could result in higher inflation, weaker peso, and a weakened economy.

The angry nerds believe that the public must realize the extent of their resources being misused and that the BBM government must prioritize winning back confidence to address the situation.