Press Release

Office of Deputy Speaker and Batangas Rep. Ralph G. Recto

27 August 2022

Unprogrammed fund bloats actual budget by half-trillion, ‘588  billion shades of grey’ must be itemized

The proposed national budget for 2023 is actually P5.856 trillion, or P588 billion bigger than the oft-quoted P5.268 trillion, Deputy Speaker Ralph Recto said.

“The spending amount being asked by the Palace is actually half-a-trillion pesos more, Recto said.

Recto said the P588 billion represents the Unprogrammed Appropriations portion of the 2023 national budget. “It is more than double the current year’s P251.7 billion unprogrammed fund.”

He said the fund lacks details, describing it as “588 billion shades of grey” which the government must itemize and render “in black and white.”

Topping the list of “unclear and undefined” purposes in the 2023 Unprogrammed Appropriations is the “Support to Foreign Assisted Projects” with a proposed P380.6 billion.

“Equally nebulous” is the P149.7 billion for “Support for Infrastructure Projects and Social Programs,” Recto said.

“Ang laki ng funding footprint, pero puro one-liner lang ang appropriations language. It is a blank check request,” he said. 

The Batangas congressman said the Unprogrammed Fund is one of the biggest “lump sums” in the National Expenditure Plan or NEP, the draft three-volume national budget Malacanang had sent to Congress.

“While it is part of the NEP, the unprogrammed fund is not included in the total amount. The result is, every popular budget literature nowadays quotes a smaller budget level,” Recto said.

He explained that while the Unprogrammed Appropriations can only be released if several “funding triggers” are met, the authority to spend it comes with the passage of the national budget.

“Thus P5.856 trillion is the ceiling of the proposed 2023 budget,” Recto said. “Once the latter becomes law, it confers standby authority to the executive to spend it, provided conditions are met.”

As in previous general appropriations acts, the proposed budget for 2023 states that the unprogrammed fund can only be spent if revenue targets are exceeded or once loans have been perfected.

“But the problem is, there seems to be lax compliance on this. In 2020, for example, when revenue collections were down because of the pandemic, every centavo of the P122 billion in unprogrammed appropriations was released,” Recto said.

“Ganun din siguro sa taong ito. Nagalaw din ang P251.6 billion na unprogrammed,” said Recto, adding that the DBM should begin posting details of releases from the said fund on its website.

Recto said there are, however, a few “good and beneficial” recipients in the 10-item Unprogrammed Appropriations which he supports. 

“Yung P18.9 billion in public health emergency benefits for frontliners, maganda yan. Yung katiting na P14.6 million in LGU arrears, OK rin,” Recto said.

“Yung P5 billion in AFP modernization, in principle is good, but in the interest of transparency, must be itemized. The P2 billion in arrears to the IT provider of the Land Transportation Office must also be scrutinized,” Recto said.