Win Gatchalian allays corruption fears in 2026 unprogrammed funds

Senate finance committee chairperson Sherwin Gatchalian has stood firm that there would no longer be a source of corruption in the P243 billion unprogrammed appropriations (UA) approved by the bicameral conference committee under the proposed 2026 national budget.

This, as the Strengthening Assistance for Government Infrastructure and Social Programs (SAGIP), which previously housed lump-sum funds for government infrastructure projects and social services, has been removed from the proposed spending plan.  

“Marami kasing bahagi ang unprogrammed appropriations, at isa na rito ang SAGIP. Dito nilalagay noon ang mga lump-sum na pondo, gaya ng para sa flood control projects, na naging ugat ng mga imbestigasyon sa korapsyon. Ito ang sinabi natin noon na tatanggalin natin, at tinanggal na nga natin sa 2026 budget,” Gatchalian said in a statement. 

(The unprogrammed appropriations have many components, and SAGIP is one of them. This is where lump-sum funds were placed, such as for flood control projects, which became the root of corruption investigations. This is what we said we would eliminate, and we have removed it in the 2026 budget.) 

“Kaya sa bagong anyo ng unprogrammed appropriations, wala nang panggagalingan pa ng korapsyon,” he added. 

(So with the new unprogrammed appropriations, there is no more source of corruption.) 

According to Gatchalian’s office, SAGIP was funded with more than P50 billion in 2023, P225 billion in 2024, and P160 billion in 2025. It was only in 2024 that funds for flood control were included under SAGIP, amounting to P86.93 billion.

Gatchalian also emphasized that unprogrammed appropriations in the budget is not illegal. 

READ: What are unprogrammed funds in the nat'l budget?

The senator said that unprogrammed appropriations also fund the Philippine government’s counterpart in foreign-assisted projects. 

“Sa unprogrammed appropriations talaga nakalagay ito dahil meron pa ‘yung mga proyekto na ongoing pa ang negosasyon at ‘yung iba naman ay wala pang kontratang napipirmahan,” he explained.   

(These are placed in the unprogrammed appropriations because there are projects that are still under negotiation and the contract of others have yet to be signed.) 

“These projects are not certain to push through, and it is not fiscally prudent to put them under programmed funds because they are tentative obligations of the government,” he continued.

Aside from the foreign-assisted projects, the unprogrammed funds also allocate additional funding for the modernization of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). — RSJ, GMA Integrated News