The imbroglio over the 2025 national budget — where more than P142.7 billion in insertions and a ballooning unprogrammed appropriations (UA) were exposed — has not stopped the practice of manipulation in the 2026 proposed budget, highlighting the callousness of members of the executive and legislative branches of government.

The Marcos administration has earmarked a staggering 70 percent of the P250 billion UA for 2026 to bankroll infrastructure projects, despite apprehensions about potential corruption, as was the case with the fraudulent flood control projects.

The UA was allocated P249.9 billion in the 2026 proposed budget, a big chunk of which will go to support foreign-assisted projects and Strengthening Assistance for Government Infrastructure and Social Programs (SAGIP), at P97.3 billion and P80.9 billion, respectively.

Items in the UA are mostly priority projects, which are then placed on the back burner in favor of the pet projects of legislators.

Despite the deletion of billions worth of line items for infrastructure projects, particularly flood control, in next year’s budget, House Deputy Minority Leader Percival Cendaña bared that the funding for the same appears to have been camouflaged in the UA.

“To sum up, nearly 70 percent of unprogrammed appropriations in the 2026 budget is for infrastructure projects,” Cendaña said Friday during the plenary debates on the 2026 budget.

“We could have invested in health [and] education, but why is it still about infrastructure?” he said.

Cendaña emphasized the need to defund the highly criticized UA, asserting that it has been a conduit for irregularities and massive corruption, as made evident by the substandard multibillion-peso flood control projects under the Marcos administration.

UA’s crucial role

However, House Committee on Appropriations Chairperson Mikaela Suansing, the budget sponsor, argued that the UA plays a crucial role, serving as a financial cushion that helps the government respond swiftly to unforeseen and critical situations.

“If a situation arises, it’s very important for the DBM (Department of Budget and Management) and the government to be able to pull from unprogrammed appropriations,” Suansing said.

Unprogrammed appropriations are “standby funds” that can be tapped when the government collects more revenue than expected, or when grants and foreign funds are available. Traditionally, the UA is invoked for emergencies or when infrastructure projects, social aid programs, among others, are required.

A review of foreign-assisted projects in fiscal years 2023 to 2025, covering the Marcos administration, revealed that a significant portion of these projects focused on infrastructure, according to Cendaña.

As for SAGIP, he claimed the program has also been linked to the release of budgets for the scandalous flood control projects.

Suansing eventually softened, saying the DBM would be amenable if Congress would move to slash the SAGIP budget under the UA.

She, however, contended that although the P97.3 billion funding is related to infrastructure projects, the yields are towards different sectors.

Broken down, P24.1 billion will be set aside for the Department of Social Welfare and Development to reduce food insecurity and undernutrition; P1.9 billion for the Department of Agrarian Reform for the construction of the Pang-Agraryong Tulay para sa Bagong Bayanihan ng mga Magsasaka; while P9.5 billion is for the Philippine Community Resilience Project.

Nonetheless, a substantial amount of P33.7 billion will go to the Departments of Public Works and Highways and Transportation to bankroll infrastructure projects.

“There are big-ticket items here, over a third of the foreign-assisted projects identified under UA that are non-infrastructure,” Suansing told Cendaña.

How UA is released

In 2023 and 2024, P214.4 billion in UA was allegedly released by the Office of the President to the DPWH to fund 3,700 infrastructure projects, including for flood control, roads, bridges, and multi-purpose buildings.

Several conditions must be met before the DBM would release the UA, one of which is that the head of the requesting agency must submit a special budget request.

An evaluation team from the DBM assesses the requirements and decides whether to release the UA or not.

ACT Teachers Rep. Antonio Tinio, another member of the minority, had no qualms about implicating President Marcos in the alleged large-scale corruption n the fraudulent flood control projects.

He contended that Marcos also bore responsibility for “approving” the release of the UA, citing a provision in Book VI, Chapter 5, Section 35 of the Administrative Code of 1987 (Executive Order 292), which provides that a lump-sum appropriation for any department must be “made in accordance with a special budget to be approved by the President.”

Bataan Rep. Albert Garcia, the Office of the President’s budget sponsor, contended that Tinio’s assertions were misplaced, saying the UA is not a lump-sum fund solely under Malacañang’s discretion.

“The Office of the President has nothing to do with this because it is within the jurisdiction of the requesting agency of the DBM and the Bureau of the Treasury. So, all of this happens without the involvement of the Office of the President,” Garcia said.

According to Tinio, the UA under Marcos had ballooned to nearly P2 trillion since 2023, although Garcia said P168.2 billion was vetoed in the 2025 budget. Marcos cut P194 billion in line items from the P6.352-trillion budget, including P16.7 billion intended for flood control.

This year’s budget, derided as the “most corrupt” passed by Congress, has been heavily criticized for allegedly featuring bloated UA and discretionary funds. At the same time, allocations and subsidies to the Department of Education and state health insurer PhilHealth, respectively, suffered deep cuts.

Several lawmakers argued that the DBM was equally culpable for the budget blunders, suggesting that the agency may be complicit with the DPWH, which has been embroiled in allegations of corruption and collusion with members of Congress regarding the multibillion-peso flood control projects.

Save P400B, ease debt burden

Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo M. Lacson has thrown his support behind a proposal to cancel or re-price up to P1.6 trillion worth of DPWH projects, which could potentially save the government as much as P400 billion.

Lacson sees the move, initially suggested by Batangas Representative Leandro Leviste, as potentially helping to significantly reduce the country’s growing debt burden and redirecting much-needed funds to critical sectors like health and education.

“Neophyte Cong. Leviste should be listened to and taken seriously. He surely knows how to compute,” Lacson posted on his X (formerly Twitter) account on Friday.

“P400B in savings to bridge our budget deficit will help ease our debt burden,” he added.

Leviste earlier cited provisions in DPWH contracts that allowed for cancellation either due to impracticality, “termination for convenience,” or proven irregularities, or “termination for unlawful acts.” He then called on DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon to legally cancel or re-evaluate up to P1 trillion in projects for 2025 and another P600 billion planned for 2026.

For Lacson, a longtime advocate of transparency and fiscal discipline, the proposal is not just timely but essential.

The senator emphasized the importance of addressing inefficiencies and alleged corruption in DPWH operations, citing his earlier privilege speeches exposing ghost and substandard flood control projects.

“We should be horrified by what happened,” he said, referring to past corruption scandals.

“Let’s not allow the problem to linger. Let us also help find ways to bring down our debt because our debt has grown so big,” Lacson stressed.

He pledged to scrutinize the DPWH’s proposed 2026 budget closely and urged fellow lawmakers to exercise restraint in pushing for infrastructure realignments that are often tied to local political interests.