President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has expressed support for setting a ceiling on unprogrammed appropriations at below five percent of the national budget, as the administration works on a proposed Philippine budgeting code aimed at tightening fiscal controls.
The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) earlier floated a proposal to limit such funds to three percent of total appropriations. Malacañang said the President is aligned with the broader policy direction of reducing the allowable level to under five percent, pending further review.
Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said the DBM is drafting the administration’s proposed budgeting code, a measure designed to formalize reforms in how public funds are structured and released. Part of the proposal involves defining stricter rules on the size and purpose of unprogrammed appropriations.
“These include ‘clearer parameters governing the level, scope, and conditions for the release of the unprogrammed appropriations.’”
“A central policy intention under the proposed reform is to ensure that unprogrammed appropriations are confined to a limited and clearly defined purpose, thereby preventing their use as a broad or discretionary funding mechanism and enforcing fiscal discipline,” Castro said, reading a statement from the DBM.
She explained that the draft measure will undergo review by the economic team and the Executive Secretary before it is elevated to the President.
“As such, the matter remains under policy development and interagency consultation,” Castro said.
She also cited the DBM’s position on the proposed limit: “to adopt a more prudent and disciplined approach by setting the level of unprogrammed appropriations at a rate lower than five percent of the total national budget based on historical data and fiscal trends.”
“The precise threshold, however, will remain subject to further deliberation and the President’s approval in the context of the proposed budgeting code,” she added.
The 2026 national spending plan, signed into law as Republic Act No. 12314, allocates Php6.793 trillion for government operations and priority programs.
