Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Wednesday said a key source of corruption linked to Unprogrammed Appropriations has been removed from the proposed 2026 national budget, a move approved by the bicameral conference committee reconciling the spending measure.
Gatchalian, who chairs the Senate Committee on Finance, stated the deletion addresses long-standing concerns over how certain flexible budget items were previously structured and used within the Unprogrammed Appropriations framework.
“There are many components of the Unprogrammed Appropriations, and one of these was SAGIP, where lump-sum funds, such as those for flood control projects, were previously placed and later became the source of corruption investigations, which is what we said before we would remove and which we have now removed from the 2026 budget,” the senator explained.
According to him, with the elimination of SAGIP, the revised structure of the Unprogrammed Appropriations no longer contains features that could be exploited as a conduit for corruption.
He also clarified that Unprogrammed Appropriations themselves are not illegal, that they are a recognized budgetary tool intended to accommodate spending that depends on revenue availability or specific conditions.
Budget records show that SAGIP received more than ₱50 billion in 2023, expanded sharply to ₱225 billion in 2024, and was allocated ₱160 billion in the current fiscal year.
In 2024 alone, flood control projects worth ₱86.93 billion were placed under SAGIP, further fueling scrutiny over how such large discretionary sums were programmed and monitored.
Aside from SAGIP, other components of the Unprogrammed Appropriations include foreign-assisted projects that require counterpart funding from the Philippine government.
Gatchalian explained that these projects are included in the Unprogrammed Appropriations because negotiations with foreign partners may still be ongoing or contracts may not yet be finalized at the time the budget is prepared.
He said this arrangement allows the government to move quickly once agreements are concluded, without amending the budget law.
With the removal of SAGIP, Gatchalian said the 2026 budget reflects a tighter, more transparent approach to unprogrammed spending while preserving legitimate flexibility for priority projects that meet established conditions.
