House leader: Unprogrammed funds not a ground to impeach Marcos

The provision of unprogrammed or non-guaranteed funds under the national budget is not a ground to impeach President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. or any other impeachable official, House public accounts panel chairperson Terry Ridon said.

Ridon was referring to the comments made by House Deputy Minority Leader Edgar Erice of Caloocan City that the planned impeachment complaint against President Marcos, Jr. is based on the insertions and unprogrammed appropriations provided under the 2023, 2024, and 2025 budgets.

“I don't think so [that these are solid grounds]. I think up until I see the impeachment complaint against the President, all of it is basically just…nasa hangin lang po (up in the air),” Ridon said during the Kapihan forum.

“Because again, they will talk about unprogrammed funds. Unprogrammed funds have been in the budget since 1989. So, two years after the 1987 Constitution, three years after EDSA. It has remained there for the longest time,” he said.

Unprogrammed appropriations are budget items which will only be funded if there is excess government revenue collection or other sources of funding, such as special laws or loans. The President makes the final call on which budget item under the unprogrammed appropriations will be funded once there is available funding. 

Erice and House Deputy Minority Leader Leila de Lima of ML party-list have since asked the Supreme Court to issue a temporary restraining order against the unprogrammed appropriations in the 2026 national budget, saying its inclusion under the budget was committed with grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction.

Ridon said it would take so much more than unprogrammed appropriations to mount a formidable impeachment complaint.

“They have to have a bit more if they want to use unprogrammed appropriations as a reason to impeach the President,” Ridon added.

House Deputy Speaker and La Union 1st district Representative Paolo Ortega earlier said that while the House recognizes that impeachment is a constitutional mechanism, the impeachment process is not a political weapon.

“Due process applies to the President as much as to any public official,” Ortega said.

House Assistant Majority Leader Lanao del Sur 1st district Representative Zia Alonto Adiong agreed.

“It should be based on solid grounds. If we are talking about culpable violation of the Constitution, it is not mere rhetoric; it should not also be made like clickbait or propaganda to create political noise,” Adiong added.—LDF, GMA Integrated News