MANILA, Philippines — The Division of Price range and Administration (DBM) has allotted P249.98 billion for unprogrammed allocations (UA) within the proposed 2026 finances.
The DBM has turned over the Nationwide Expenditure Program (NEP) to Congress, formally kicking off finances deliberations for 2026. The NEP is the chief department’s proposed finances and is topic to congressional approval in a months-long course of.
The UA is without doubt one of the extra contentious parts of the finances, as these are gadgets with out devoted funding. Initiatives below it might solely proceed as soon as the federal government generates adequate extra income.
In 2025, the NEP’s unprogrammed allocations had been set at P158.66 billion and later elevated to P363.24 billion throughout congressional deliberations.
This implies the proposed 2026 UA is decrease than what Congress permitted in 2025, however increased than the DBM’s unique 2025 NEP proposal.
Unprogrammed funds are usually not thought-about a part of the entire proposed finances for a given 12 months for the reason that gadgets below it should not have devoted funding.
The UA could be triggered in a number of methods, together with the era of extra revenues from the federal government’s revenue sources.
One other set off is the approval of loans for foreign-assisted tasks.
The UA has confronted criticism for its important progress lately, significantly throughout closed-door classes.
The ballooning of the UA in Congress has been a development throughout President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s time period. In 2023, the DBM requested for P588,162,480,000 in unprogrammed funds, but Congress raised this to P807.16 billion.
Within the 2025 finances, a mere P158.6 billion was proposed by the DBM. The identical quantity was likewise permitted by Congress.
Nevertheless, the 2025 UA greater than tripled after a closed-door assembly of choose lawmakers from the Home of Representatives and the Senate, often called the bicameral convention committee.
This a part of the budgetary deliberations has been extensively criticized by lawmakers and finances watchdogs for its lack of transparency.
