IBON said that the Philippine government should publicly reject the United States (US) prescribing spending targets for other countries, and assert its sovereignty by saying that no “ally” has the authority to set national budget priorities. The government can also declare that it prioritizes public investments in agriculture and Filipino industry, education and health, and social protection amid runaway inflation due to the unwarranted US attack on Iran.
At the 23rd International Institute for Strategic Studies Shangri-La Dialogue, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called on Asian allies and partners to spend 3.5% of their gross domestic product (GDP) on defense. He commended the Philippines as a successful example of burden sharing for regional security, while Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro echoed that strengthening national defense is an imperative for all nations.
IBON said that the country’s appropriations are matters for Philippine institutions and national planning processes, and the Marcos Jr administration must speak out to clearly set the boundaries in accordance with genuinely independent foreign policy.
As it is, the US praised the Philippine defense budget’s steady increase under Marcos with the defense budget growing 39% from Php217.7 billion in 2022 to Php301.7 billion in 2026. IBON noted that some defense projects may also be funded by the controversial unprogrammed appropriations.
Computing based on gross domestic product (GDP) at current prices of Php28 trillion in 2025, the US’s 3.5% demand already amounts to Php980 billion. At almost a trillion pesos, this is nearly four times the Php269 billion budget for defense in 2025.
That amount would also rival the Php1 trillion budget this year of the education department while overshadowing that of the health (Php304.6 billion), social welfare (Php270.2 billion), agriculture and agrarian reform (Php204.6 billion), labor (Php61.8 billion), and migrant workers (Php11.7 billion) departments combined.
IBON executive director Sonny Africa said that Philippine development needs are so large that taking budgetary instructions from a foreign government according to its priorities is completely unacceptable. The country is already being drawn deeper into US military strategy in the region through expanded defense agreements, joint military activities, and commitments to closer security coordination. Using public resources for military spending according to the US’s priorities rather than the Filipino people’s most urgent needs must be opposed.
IBON said that every peso used for military expenditures is a peso less for helping farmers, creating industrial jobs, improving public health and education, strengthening disaster resilience, and helping distressed families. The group stressed that the Philippine government is already scrimping on assisting tens of millions of vulnerable Filipinos reeling from high prices and collapsed livelihoods due to the US attack on Iran, while fundamental security challenges remain: poverty, economic vulnerability, food insecurity, and inadequate social services.
IBON also warned that deeper military integration with the US, such as involvement in the superpower’s economic and defense strategy Pax Silica, erodes the country’s strategic autonomy and drags the Philippines into conflicts that do not serve its national interest. The Marcos administration should uphold an independent foreign policy and resist external pressure to shape the country’s budget and security priorities, the group said.
Rather than acting as a forward platform in US strategic competition with China, the Philippines should pursue diplomacy, regional cooperation, and economic development that advance genuine national security and the welfare of the Filipino people, IBON said. ###