Lawmakers have asked the Supreme Court to strike the contingency fund in the 2026 budget
By Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio, A reporter
A number of congressmen plan to file a request to remove all unscheduled funds (UA) from this year’s P6.793-trillion national budget, according to an advisory issued on Wednesday.
Deputy Senior Leader of the House Party and Representative of Caloocan. Edgar R. Erice and Party List Representative Leila M. de Lima will submit a petition before the Supreme Court on Thursday, challenging the legality of the inclusion of pending funding in the 2026 budget law, based on a press advisory sent by reporters.
“The petition abuses the inclusion of an unplanned budget in the 2026 national budget, revealing a violation of the constitutional principles regarding public finances, budget accountability and congressional powers of the fund,” it said.
According to a copy of the petition, obtained by BusinessWorld, the lawmakers said the UAs are unconstitutional as they allow the government to “spend more money than it declares under the pretext of ‘making excess money.'”
Mr. Erice and Ms. De Lima, in the first statement, explained this contradiction with the Constitution which requires that the General Appropriation Bill be based on the budget of expenses and sources of funds.
“A budget that authorizes the use of funds without existing funding sources is not a constitutional budget,” said the legislators.
“It is a conditional permit, the use of which is left entirely to the discretion of the Executive. This is exactly what the Constitution was designed to prevent.”
Malacañang earlier said he hoped the 2026 budget could withstand legal scrutiny, adding that he respected the right of lawmakers to file a petition against the UAs of the spending plan.
President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. signed the 2026 budget into law on Monday, rejecting an estimated P92.5 billion of the more than P200 billion in funding set by Congress. This brings the reserves to P150.5 billion, which Mr. Marcos said is the lowest since 2019. Critics say UAs have historically been prone to corruption.
UA are funds set aside that can only be used for certain projects that may be charged a higher or higher fee to finance certain programs and projects.
The mounting legal challenge follows closer-than-usual scrutiny of this year’s budget process, driven by public declarations of transparency amid repeated concerns over alleged inclusion in questionable projects.
Last year’s budget law faced a similar challenge, as many petitioners sought to question the spending plan’s unconstitutionality over alleged interference after it was approved by Congress.
CONGRESS TO WATCH
On Wednesday, Rep. Terry L. Ridon, who leads the House Public Accounts Committee, said the Budget department should disclose to the public if the government has more money to allow for the monitoring of UA expenses.
“There was a lack of transparency in the previous use of random assignments,” he told a press conference in mixed English and Filipino.
“You have to be transparent first about whether there is additional money or not,” said Mr. Ridon. “Also, you have to be transparent about whether they will borrow to finance these projects.”
His statement comes after he promised to take a closer look at the government’s spending, which will include monitoring public bidding and project implementation to reduce misuse and corruption.
The Senate and the House of Representatives agreed to convene a joint oversight body, tasked with protecting government spending.
Senator Sherwin T. Gatchalian said they will create a committee when the sessions resume on Jan 26.
“When we meet on Jan. 26, we will show the members of the plenary floor and the formation of the steering committee, but we still have a lot of preparation work,” said Mr. Gatchalian told a news conference in mixed Filipino and English.
The Finance chairman added that the Senate is still looking to liaise with the lower chamber on topics that may be discussed by the committee responsible.
“Although we have not yet met, we are doing a lot of research and communication with the agencies so that when the time starts, we can already start,” said Mr. Gatchalian.
A joint congressional task force is expected to oversee federal spending and agency compliance with the 2026 General Appropriations Act.
“The budget negotiations have been completed. We are now in the operational phase. The implementation that needs to be monitored now,” he said.
The team will be led by the heads of finance of both chambers, acting as chairpersons.
“We’re going to look at a few things. Number one, the use of agencies and underutilization because that’s a chronic disease of agencies,” he added.
The member of parliament noted that the structure that will check how the projects are included in the National Expenditure Plan and check whether the projects proposed by the local government units and communities are considered.
“That is important to see if the plan to get local projects up to the national level is being followed,” said Mr. Gatchalian.
He added that the joint supervisory panel has not been used in recent years, despite its inclusion in the Common Stock Act.
“Actually, this is not new, it is under the General Appropriation Act. It has never been established so we will establish it in the next few days,” he said. – with Adrian H. Halili
