In the Philippines, the House appropriations committee approved the Office of the President's P10.158 billion budget for 2027 in under an hour, extending a parliamentary tradition that shields the executive branch from committee-level scrutiny. Nearly half of that allocation — P4.58 billion — is designated for confidential and intelligence expenses, a proportion that minority lawmakers argue demands the same public reckoning recently applied to the Vice President's controversial spending. The speed and silence of the process raise an enduring question in democratic governance: when institution