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Group urges lawmakers to file bottom-up budgeting bill
Story by Arlie O. Calalo
January 19, 2026
A NONGOVERNMENT organization (NGO) whose primary advocate is hard-hitting journalist Ben “Bitag” Tulfo on Sunday challenged lawmakers to institutionalize the Bottom-Up Budgeting (BUB) policy.
The IpaBitag Mo Inc. (IBMI) said that Filipinos are “sick and tired of corruption.”
“To date, we have yet to see government officials held accountable and prosecuted. We are calling the citizenry to be vigilant and stop all forms of corruption in the government,” said Tulfo.
He said he was talking not as a journalist but as an advocate against unlawful activities in the government.
IBMI Executive Director Apple Meneses and its lawyers — Rean Balisi and Alex Lopez — said that it is about time for the lawmakers to enact the BUB and “anti-epal” bill.
Balisi and Lopez said the BUB, as a mere internal policy of the government, does not have enough teeth to carry out its real purpose: allowing the public to participate in the budgeting process for all government programs, activities and projects (PAPs).
“It should not just be a byword, a policy or a program. Its implementation should not rest on the discretion of the current administration. Rather, make it a policy through legislation,” Tulfo said.
He dared his brothers — Senators Raffy and Erwin Tulfo — to take the lead and show the people that they are against corruption and red tape in the government.
The IBMI said BUB was created in 2012 during the administration of President Benigno Aquino III.
Tulfo said that lawmakers must pass the Anti-Signage of Public Works Bill, originally authored by Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago.
Meneses said a law is needed to stop politicians from taking undue credit by placing their names, initials, or photos on signage for planned, ongoing, or finished public works projects.