Two members of the House of Representatives minority bloc on Friday have called for the removal of “unprogrammed appropriations” in the annual national budget, saying it has become a backdoor for discretionary spending that weakens fiscal discipline and oversight.
Rep. Chel Diokno of Akbayan Party-list said there must be zero unprogrammed appropriations under the 2026 national budget.
“The decision of the House Budget Amendments Review Subcommittee to reduce the Unprogrammed Appropriations (UA) by P40 billion is not enough, because more than P200 billion is still hidden in it,” Diokno said in a social media post.
“Stop making excuses to insert the UA. If additional funds are needed for loan obligations, there is a legal and clear way: supplemental budget. And for the calamity and emergency mentioned by Malacañang, there is an existing Contingent Fund of P13 billion and Calamity Funds of P31 billion,” Diokno added.
He said the Filipino people deserve to know where their taxes go.
“The people deserve to know where their taxes go. We must bring down to zero the unprogrammed appropriations,” Diokno said.
House Assistant Minority Leader and Bagong Henerasyon Party-list Rep. Robert Nazal echoed Diokno’s call.
“If we had our way, there would be no unprogrammed funds at all. If there are new or excess revenues, let us just pass a supplemental budget,” Nazal said in a separate statement on Friday.
He recalled that during the plenary deliberations on the 2026 national budget, he said he questioned the need to retain unprogrammed funds, calling them “a source of flexibility, perhaps too much flexibility.”
He warned that special provisions allowing the Department of Budget and Management to shift funds among authorized purposes defeat the intent of line-item budgeting and turn unprogrammed funds into a discretionary lump sum.
“These provisions let DBM move funds around to cover deficiencies elsewhere. That should concern all of us who fought for transparency. In light of the Supreme Court rulings on lump sums and pork barrel, shouldn’t we consider deleting these provisions altogether?” he said.
He said in times of urgent fiscal need, Congress can pass a supplemental budget to ensure transparency and proper legislative scrutiny.
“That’s how we preserve the power of the purse and protect taxpayers’ money,” Nazal added.
