When senators listen, the people win 

In the wake of the trillion‑peso flood control scandal, public trust in government crumbled. As the clearest expression of a government’s agenda, the budget laid bare the greed and corruption that led to the suffering and death of the poorest Filipinos most vulnerable to floods and typhoons.

Yet in this crisis, some public servants demonstrated genuine service. Among them, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian acted with a sense of urgency that met this moment in our history.

As chair of the Senate committee on finance, Gatchalian opened the legislature’s doors to watchdogs in civil society, academe, church, and media. He invited us to share findings on how the budget had been abused, and what we might do to make things right.

Gatchalian listened and understood: if corruption is a cancer that has spread to every part of our body, then we must strengthen our nation’s immune system to detect and fight it early. We must empower civil society, media, academe, and oversight institutions as the civic antibodies of our democracy.

He welcomed our criticism with openness and respect, whether in the halls of the Senate or in the parliament of the streets. He live streamed the bicameral conference whose secrecy had enabled ghost projects and insisted amendments be read line by line. He launched the Senate Budget Transparency Server with then Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III and their budget research office.

He gave civil society unprecedented access to project-level data and encouraged us to use science to flag overpriced or duplicate projects. For the first time, citizens could track which senators added projects in the final budget, a core demand of the trillion‑peso march movement. He gave us machine‑readable files of the Senate version, allowing journalists and researchers to study thousands of pages without drowning in PDFs.

The result: a better 2026 budget. While cutting waste and pork, Gatchalian listened to education advocates and led the passage of a P1.3 trillion education budget—the largest in our history—to address our learning and malnutrition crisis. He restored PhilHealth allocations, reinstated 4Ps funding, supported Project Noah scientists, and closed backdoors in unprogrammed appropriations. His Senate version reduced pork projects we flagged by P180 billion, even as some were later restored with safeguards by the bicam. Alongside Senators Sotto, Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, Bam Aquino, Risa Hontiveros, and Panfilo “Ping” Lacson, he institutionalized transparency in the budget’s general provisions.

Civil society responded with Bisto Proyekto, a citizen-led movement monitoring infrastructure projects. In just a month since February 2026, we mobilized 300 volunteers across 12 regions to monitor more than 80 public works projects. Officials led by Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon repaired some projects, and now openly respond to citizen inspection reports.

Gatchalian also invited us to testify on broader reforms: from the Philippine Budgeting Code to public transport reforms amid the oil crisis. He understood that restoring trust requires systemic change—outcomes‑based budgeting, science‑based infrastructure planning, resurrecting budget partnership agreements, building an open budget transparency server with procurement and beneficial ownership, and citizen monitoring to improve feedback and accountability loops across agencies. These are concrete steps toward a budget that serves the people rather than entrenched interests.

Much legislative work remains: reforms must be rooted in law, through measures like the Philippine Budgeting Code and Cadena Act for budget transparency. Freedom of information, antidynasty, campaign finance, and party list reform laws are essential to prevent power concentration among dynasties and elites. Strong oversight and justice institutions must hold masterminds of the flood control scandal accountable. These reforms are not just technical fixes but political tests of whether democracy can deliver for our people.

It is a shame that Gatchalian’s leadership was cut short by the chaotic Senate coup, disrupting budget reform momentum and stalling urgent responses to the oil crisis.

And yet his example remains:

• He reminded us the Senate can rise above division to serve the public good.

• He proved respectful dialogue between government and civil society is possible even amid disagreement.

• He showed that when public servants respect civil society as partner, watchdog, guide, and bridge, trust in the budget process can be rebuilt.

Dios mabalos, Senator Win, for serving with honor as finance chair.

We urge the Senate to get back to work serving the public, because the Filipino people deserve better.

When we strengthen our nation’s immune system, we all win.

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Kenneth Isaiah Ibasco Abante is co‑convenor of the People’s Budget Coalition and a member of the Roundtable for Inclusive Development, advocating to restore trust in the budget process. He was a 2023 The Outstanding Young Men honoree for socio‑civic and voluntary leadership.

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