House defers DICT budget to summon Meta CEO Zuckerberg

MANILA, Philippines — Lawmakers have deferred approval of the proposed 2027 budget of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), in a bid to summon and force Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to address violence and child safety concerns on Facebook. Despite having the Philippines as its fifth largest user base globally, the tech giant has not established a satellite office in the country, Rep. Presley de Jesus pointed out. “We keep on making their businesses big. But in return, they have been ignoring us,” he said. At Wednesday’s plenary deliberations, the House suspended the DICT’s 2027 budget as they wanted Zuckerberg to face the agency during an inquiry into social media safety. “Meta does not have an actual country manager and a real office here, considering the amount of capital that we provide,” said Rep. Brian Poe-Llamanzares, sponsor of the DICT’s budget. Recalling the Ateneo de Zamboanga University shooting incident, De Jesus said the DICT and Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center had “raised the possibility of blocking Facebook as a last resort over delayed takedowns of violent content, child safety concerns and misinformation.” De Jesus questioned DICT officials’ consultations with Meta representatives in Singapore. “I believe they were working towards a memorandum of agreement with Meta to address growing concerns of influence on minors here in the Philippines, among other concerns that are happening within the Meta platform,” Llamanzares said. Respecting the House’s decision, the DICT maintained that “Meta continues to fall short of its responsibility and commitment to youth safety.” Food, energy security, critical infrastructure and climate resilience will be prioritized in the P7.2-trillion national budget for 2027, the House appropriations committee said. “Every aspect of the budget must act towards capacitating every Filipino through quality education and health care, stronger social services, quality jobs – in conjunction with ensuring food and energy security, critical infrastructure and climate resilience,” panel chair Rep. Mikaela Angela Suansing said in her sponsorship speech on House Bill 10858, or the 2027 General Appropriations bill. The House also approved the Department of Labor and Employment’s proposed P47.057-billion budget, which will be taken up by the Senate. Plenary debates in the lower chamber will run until Sept. 25. In the Senate, the National Irrigation Administration (NIA)’s proposed P46.36-billion budget has been scrutinized due to a massive spike in its Quick Response Fund (QRF) and steep cuts to critical irrigation infrastructure ahead of a looming “super El Niño.” Sen. Francis Pangilinan flagged a 58-percent funding slash for irrigation systems. “This is not the time to skimp on canals, pumps, reservoirs, communal irrigation and repairs of irrigation systems amid El Niño,” he said. Pangilinan has ordered the NIA to implement a public transparency portal that requires the geotagging of projects, publication of procurement documents, independent quality-testing results and a publicly accessible dashboard. Sen. Imee Marcos questioned the sharp increase in the NIA’s QRF, which jumped to P1.7 billion from P300 million in 2026. Marcos said the NIA must identify specific disaster risks justifying the surge. — Rainier Allan Ronda, Neil Jayson Servallos, Chrstine Boton Source: Philstar Nation