AFTER ALL THE outrage over the numerous insertions from where crooks drew loot in last year’s budget, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. had just signed the 2026 General Appropriations Act which still contains pork barrel in the guise of unprogrammed funds.
For one, the so-called pork barrel is unconstitutional as stipulated under the 2013 Supreme Court decision — and again in 2025 when the High Tribunal ruled to order the executive branch to return the unused funds of Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth).
With the 2026 national budget still tainted with “pork,” House Deputy Minority Leader Rep. Edgar Erice (Caloocan, 2nd District) said he would question before the High Tribunal the remaining unprogrammed appropriations in the 2026 GAB, despite the veto by the President of P92.5 billion (from over P200 billion) and despite his enjoining the citizenry to be vigilant in watching against budget abuse.
“This is not enough,” said Erice, even as he reminded the President of the SC ruling which declared such an allocation as “unconstitutional.”
“All unprogrammed funds, in any form, are unconstitutional. So I will have to challenge it before the Supreme Court. We’re already drafting the petition.”
He insisted that P43 billion should have been in programmed funds, particularly for the teachers’ gratuity pay, along with the local government shares of national taxes.
He said if the government could not raise the funds for teachers’ gratuity pay, “does it mean susubain ng gobyerno and mga teacher at local government share. Diyan ako tumututol sa ganyang sistema.”
SHADOW OF PORK
ML Partylist Rep. Leila de Lima agreed, saying unprogrammed appropriations “bypass constitutional safeguards. Vetoing a considerably significant amount—or any amount—in unprogrammed appropriations is NOT the point. It is still shadow pork… they lack definite and identifiable revenue sources, bypass constitutional safeguards, and surrender congressional power of the purse to executive discretion,” she said in a statement.
“Isa pa: inamin mismo ni ES and former Finance Secretary Ralph Recto na halos wala na raw excess revenue to be collected. So, hindi po ba illogical nang magka-UAs, in the first place?” De Lima added.
The Makabayan bloc has this to say: “The 2026 General Appropriations Act signed today by the President perpetuates the pork barrel system, patronage politics, and systemic corruption in government.”
In a joint statement, ACT Teachers Party List Representative Antonio Tinio, Gabriela Party List Representative Sarah Elago, and Kabataan Party List Representative Renee Co, tagged the President’s veto of P92.5 billion in unprogrammed appropriations as a “token gesture meant to distract from billions in pork barrel funds.”
MEANT TO APPEASE
“The President’s much-touted veto of p92.5 billion in Unprogrammed Appropriations (UA) is nothing but “pampalubag-loob” —a token gesture meant to distract from the billions in pork barrel funds that remain untouched in the signed budget,” they said.
“By refusing to veto the DPWH ‘allocables,’ the President has ensured the continuation of the most entrenched system of corruption in government—one that involves lawmakers, DPWH officials, and private contractors in a well-oiled machinery of kickbacks, overpricing, and ghost projects,” the militant bloc added.
Marcos’ refusal to touch this system, the Makabayan bloc claimed, reveals his true priority — “maintaining Malacañang’s hold on Congress through the distribution of billions in infrastructure funds. Walang tunay na reporma, walang tunay na pagbabago. Only the preservation of a corrupt system that keeps him in power.”
CONFIDENTIAL FUNDS
“Confidential and intelligence funds exceeding P11 billion remain in the budget, with no transparency or accountability for how these funds are spent.”
Band-aid assistance programs that fuel patronage politics have been massively bloated: P63.9 billion for AICS, P51.6 billion for MAIFIP, and P22.4 billion for TUPAD.
“These are not solutions to poverty, unemployment, or lack of healthcare. These are tools for vote-buying and political control. These dole outs are not solutions to long-standing problems of poverty and underdevelopment. The people need jobs with living wages, free and quality healthcare, genuine land reform, and national industrialization to spur economic development,” Makabayan solons said.
While projects under the UA are those deemed on “standby” as they may only be executed if “revenue collection exceeds targets and when additional grants or foreign funds are generated,” these items in the budget have been criticized as another form of discretionary fund that is vulnerable to corruption.
Weeks before the signing of the GAA, several lawmakers questioned why the UA supposedly ballooned to over P200 billion.
WHAT REMAINS OF UA
Marcos retained in UA for 2026 the following items:
• Support to Foreign-Assisted Projects (P97.30 billion)
• Program on Risk Management (P3.6 billion)
• Revised AFP Modernization Program (P50 billion)
In his speech, Marcos emphasized that UAs “are not blank checks” and guaranteed that its utilization “is provided with safeguards and is only available when clearly defined triggers and tests are met.”
“My administration will enforce these safeguards without exception to serve public interest and advance our national development goals,” he said.
EDUCATION & HEALTH
The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) described the 2026 national budget as a “decisive shift toward a people-centered development agenda that focuses on human capital and the aspirations of the next generation” with education still receiving the biggest allocation under the country’s annual spending bill.
The education sector, as mandated by the Constitution, got the lion share with P1.345 trillion or 4.36 percent of the country’s gross domestic product. The fund is expected to “provide funding for the creation of 32,916 teaching and 32,268 non-teaching plantilla positions in public schools and expand funding for the construction of 24,964 classrooms nationwide.”
The health sector will receive “its highest budget level” at P448.125 billion to fund the Department of Health’s Universal Health Care Fund for Zero Balance Billing (ZBB), interventions for communicable and non-communicable diseases, disease surveillance, sustainable health financing and the employment of more doctors and nurses across the country.
OTHER KEY ALLOCATIONS
The agriculture sector got P297.102 billion in keeping with the Marcos administration’s push for food security through modernization of farming and fishing systems and supply chains.
Social services was given P270.18 billion, while P15.33 billion is earmarked for the country’s Disaster Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Assistance Program.
The allocation for local government units was hiked “to address local development challenges and enhance the well-being of every community,” the DBM said without giving a specific amount.
“The Executive received the enrolled bill on December 29, 2025 and conducted a thorough and careful review of the proposed budget to ensure consistency with the administration’s priorities and taking into consideration valuable recommendations from stakeholders,” DBM Secretary Rolando Toledo said.
The passage of the 2026 GAA comes as Marcos Jr.’s administration remains under fire for billions-worth of taxpayers’ money that was lost to substandard and non-existing flood control projects, as well as slow moving investigations and incarcerations personalities supposedly involved in the Philippines’ so-called “biggest corruption scandal.”
WATCHDOGS BARK
Watchdogs have criticized the persistence and ballooning of this fund on account of its potential for abuse. Many flood control projects discovered to be substandard or non-existent were funded through unprogrammed appropriations.
Watchdogs had earlier asked the President to act on over P633 billion in projects in the 2026 budget, including the P243 billion in “shadow pork” items or UAs.
The 2026 budget — particularly the process of Congressional scrutiny — is backdropped by criticism and outrage over what is estimated to be billions in public funds that were misspent in substandard or non-existent flood control projects.
Marcos’ trust ratings have plummeted amid the flood control controversy, which he unwittingly sparked with the launch of a crackdown on corruption in his 2025 SONA. The scandal has touched many parts of Philippine government and politics, including allies and even close friends and family of the President.
10 VETOED ITEMS
In a press briefing following the signing, Acting Executive Secretary Ralph Recto said Marcos vetoed seven of the 10 items listed under UAs namely:
• Budgetary support to government-owned and controlled corporations (P6.895 billion)
• Philippine government counterpart funding for foreign-assisted projects (P35.769 billion)
• Fiscal support arrearages under the Comprehensive Automotive Resurgence Strategy (CARS) Program (P4.32 billion)
• Revitalizing the Automotive Industry for Competitiveness Enhancement (RACE) Program (P250,000)
• Comprehensive insurance coverage for strategically important government assets and interests (P2 billion)
• Payment of Personnel Services Requirements (P43.245 billion)
Only three line items remain under UA, including support for foreign-assisted projects (P97 billion), military modernization (P50 billion), and risk management related to private-public partnership projects (P3.6 billion), reported Rappler.
Recto explained these three line items remained under UAs because they “did not make the cut” in planning for the 2026 budget but are already being implemented or are already set to be implemented.
Three items had been removed prior to submission to the President: SAGIP or Strengthening Assistance for Government Infrastructure and Social Programs (P80 billion), P210 million for the Refund of the Service Development Fee for the Right to Develop the Nampeidai Property in Tokyo, Japan, and P2 billion under the Marawi Siege Victims Compensation.
TRANSPARENT USE
Marcos vowed to make “transparent” the use of unprogrammed appropriations by “providing the necessary details on the funding source and the corresponding purpose.”
Funding for the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), chief implementor for infrastructure projects, was also much lower compared to the proposed budget submitted by the executive to Congress. A bulk of this was because of the slashed funds for flood control projects.
For the first four days of January, the Marcos administration operated on a reenacted budget because of the delay in the law’s signing.
“The year 2025 tested our nation on many fronts. We experienced climate-related disruptions, earthquakes, economic uncertainty, and the exposure of widespread corruption within our system,” said Marcos.
He added: “We are at a critical juncture in the implementation of this administration’s medium-term development plan and on the cusp of sweeping reforms in politics and in governance. The 2026 General Appropriations Act is a vital component in all of these,” Rappler quoted him as saying.