Unprogrammed funds challenged before SC

The constitutionality of unprogrammed appropriations in the 2026 national budget faces a challenge before the Supreme Court (SC) for allegedly being repugnant to the Charter and violating constitutional principles on public finance, budget accountability and Congress' power of the purse.

- By DAPHNE GALVEZ and JOSE RODEL CLAPANO

At least one person was killed when a staff building collapsed following a landslide at the Binaliw landfill in Cebu City yesterday. Rescue operations were ongoing throughout the night as several people remained trapped inside the building.

(THE FREEMAN)

Caloocan 2nd District Rep. Edgar Erice and Mamamayang Liberal party-list Rep. Leila de Lima filed a petition before the SC that sought to declare null and void Section XLIII of the 2026 General Appropriations Act (GAA), the provision containing the unprogrammed funds.

They also sought a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the implementation of the funds pending adjudication on the matter.

In their 41-page petition, Erice and De Lima argued that the inclusion of unprogrammed appropriations in the national budget was committed with grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction.

They said the allocations posed a serious threat to transparency, accountability, and the balance of powers in the government by allowing the expenditure of public funds without clear and existing sources of financing.

De Lima said the inclusion

of unprogrammed funds in the national budget violates Article VII, Section 2 of the 1987 Constitution, stating a national budget should have clear and identified sources of funding, not just the grams.

"It is clear that this reduces the power of Congress," she said in an interview.

President Marcos signed the GAA, Republic Act No. 12314, which set the national government's budget for 2026 at P6.793 trillion, last Jan. 5.

He, however, vetoed P92.5 billion in the allocation for unprogrammed appropriations and imposed certain conditions on other provisions to ensure that public funds will be spent on what they have been allocated for.