Malacañang on Wednesday said the government cannot fully scrap unprogrammed appropriations (UA), saying these funds are necessary for emergencies and unforeseen expenses.
“That may not be possible. The government has many programs, and these funds can be used for emergency situations. But remember, these funds are not spent indiscriminately,” Palace Press Officer Claire Castro told reporters.
She added that unprogrammed funds could not be released without proper documentation.
“Even if these were unprogrammed appropriations, it could not be released outright without complete documents,” Castro said.
“It is clear that unprogrammed appropriations are closely monitored,” she added.
Akbayan party-list Rep. Chel Diokno earlier urged Congress to set the 2026 unprogrammed appropriations to zero, citing the fund’s ballooning share in the proposed national budget.
In a privilege speech at the House of Representatives, Diokno sounded the alarm over the ballooning UA, which he said concealed several projects “in the shadows of the budget process.”
UAs are essentially standby funds in the national budget that the government can only use when additional revenues or external financing become available within the fiscal year.
Unlike regular or “programmed” appropriations, which have guaranteed funding, UAs serve as a financial buffer for unforeseen expenses, such as natural disasters, emergencies, or priority projects that require immediate funding.
The UA’s release is subject to strict conditions, including certification from the Department of Finance that enough excess revenue or funding sources exist to cover the expenditure.
Meanwhile, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian recommended the transfer of the P3-billion allocation for the Tatag ng Imprastraktura para sa Kapayapaan at Seguridad (TIKAS) Program under the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to the Department of National Defense (DND), citing low completion rates and idle infrastructure projects.
In a statement, Gatchalian, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, pointed out that the P3 billion could be used to fund unfinished DPWH projects for the Philippine Air Force (PAF) in Pasay City including two multi-purpose buildings worth P72 million and P51 million, respectively, which were tagged as completed but remained unfinished.
Two other PAF projects, valued at P60 million and P17 million each, also lacked complete funding, Gatchalian said.
“It’s a pity if we cannot use these buildings. It is better for the DND to implement the projects since they are the ones who know their needs,” he added.
The 2026 proposed budget of the DPWH was cut from over P881 billion to P625 billion after a review.
Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro reported that out of 944 approved TIKAS projects since 2019, only 648 have been completed, with several left unfinished or unusable.
