Pork wallet, UA, lives

Pork wallet, UA, lives | Daily Tribune

The House of Representatives rejected the proposed amendment of Akbayan Representative Chel Diokno that would remove entirely the unprogrammed appropriations (UA) in the proposed 2026 national budget.

Diokno sought to have more than P243 billion in UA in the 2026 budget removed, emphasizing the removal of the items for various government agencies.

“If these items are truly part of the budget priorities, then they should be included in the programmed appropriations of their respective department’s budgets,” Diokno said.

Nueva Ecija Representative and chairperson on the committee on appropriations Mikaela Suansing said the Strengthening Assistance for Government Infrastructure and Social Programs (SAGIP) infrastructure projects are no longer among the authorized uses of the UA.

This reduces the P80 billion under SAGIP to P45 billion.

“All of those relate to programs under the Department of Agriculture (DA) for subsidies to farmers, rice subsidies; DSWD as an augmentation to 4Ps (Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program), given that there is an unexpected shortfall in the funding of 4Ps, given the reduction from last year,” Suansing said.

Remove FAPs from UA

However, Suansing noted that they can’t fully grant the amendments that Diokno wished, including the removal from the UA of the infrastructure under the foreign-assisted projects (FAP) because it did not make it to the preparation for the budget deliberation.

“We cannot afford not to fund this because this is our commitment to our multilateral and bilateral partners,” Suansing explained.

“Even though we are unable to accommodate the proposed amendments of the honorable Diokno, we can assure that in the latest second reading version of the General Appropriations Bill, we have already put in place safeguards to prevent potential abuses of disbursements towards infrastructure projects from unprogrammed appropriations,” Suansing said.

Meanwhile, Mamamayang Liberal Representative Leila de Lima proposed amendments in the 2026 budget of the Office of the Vice President from its original proposal of P889.2 million to P733.2 million, which was accepted.

De Lima cited Vice President Sara Duterte’s refusal to defend the proposed appropriation in Congress as an insult to the duty of accountability.

“Public money is not a toy. Until the Vice President learns respect, we must act like a parent that disciplines a brat,” De Lima said in her amendment speech.

“I know this move will generate varied reactions. Certain camps might even exploit it to gain sympathy for Vice President Sara. That’s what they’re good at — theatrics. But we can’t let theatrics prevail over what is right and just,” she added.

Suansing accepted the proposed amendments of De Lima and noted that they will ensure that they will not affect the Vice President’s office’s operational capability.

“We will ensure that it will not affect the Office of the Vice President’s performance of its duties regarding its budget for fiscal year 2026,” Suansing said.

The House of Representatives, on its second reading on Friday, approved the P6.793-trillion proposed budget for 2026.