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When lords fight
The Philippine Star|January 16, 2025
On Monday, the nation's premier promoters of pork had one big fight.
- TONY LOPEZ
When lords fight

At the Jan. 13, 2025 reopening of the House sessions following an extended Christmas vacation, House Senior Deputy Majority Leader and Ilocos Norte Rep. Sandro Marcos, boyish looking despite his age, 30, dapper in double-breasted grey suit and with a serious mien and sonorous voice, stood and moved to declare vacant the position of chairman of the House committee on appropriations. Sandro is the eldest son of the President, Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr.

Frowning, Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez asked the body if there is no objection. Hearing none, BBM's cousin declared the motion carried. Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Zaldy Co was then ousted as House appropriations committee chair.

Albay's premier contractor and a multi-billionaire, Zaldy Co is a key, if not the main ally of Speaker Martin in fashioning out the annual budget of the national government. For 2025, the P6.326-trillion national budget became such a scandal for its huge pork for politicians, in particular, the P1.033 trillion in public works, the main source of pork, and P363 billion in unprogrammed funds.

The Appro chairmanship is probably the second most important House position, next to the Speaker's. The chairman decides, almost with finality, who and how much one gets in annual money allocation to run his or her agency, or racket, for that matter.

If a congressman is not in the good graces of the Appro chair and the House Speaker, the congressman has no political future. Because in this country, people view a congressman as a walking bank or charitable foundation - for all kinds of ayuda - jobs and financial needs like bus fare, medicine, tuition, burial, fiesta, waiting sheds and, of course, flood control.

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