Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan announced that he will closely examine the proposed ₱7.2-trillion national budget for 2027, placing special emphasis on unprogrammed appropriations and potential red flags within the expenditure plan.
Speaking on Thursday, October 29, Pangilinan highlighted the vital role played by civil society organizations like the People’s Budget Coalition (PBC) in helping identify possible irregularities in the National Expenditure Program (NEP).
“Of course, we will ensure that we come up with our own version, and you are correct that the People’s Budget Coalition is working alongside the Senate Committee on Finance in scrutinizing this,” the senator said in a television interview.
“People’s participation is important. And we are very grateful that they are involved,” he added.
As the head of Subcommittee G under the Senate Committee on Finance, which is tasked with handling the 2027 General Appropriations Act deliberations, Pangilinan raised specific concerns regarding the conditions and intended uses of unprogrammed funds.
He noted that the Senate’s starting point will be guided by recent Supreme Court rulings that declared certain unprogrammed appropriations in previous budgets unconstitutional.
Addressing lump-sum allocations, the lawmaker noted:
“In fairness, we give them the benefit of the doubt, maybe the documentation is still being pursued but ideally it should have been documented before it was approved.”
“Maybe for some reason or another, maybe, some of them are saying ‘we will include it in the bicam,’ and that’s when we will release the details,” he added.
To maintain transparency and public trust, Pangilinan emphasized that the decision-making process must remain open to the public rather than hidden from view.
He called for the continued livestreaming of the bicameral conference committee proceedings—similar to the practice adopted last year—to allow citizens to monitor how lawmakers reconcile the budget versions, while insisting that any agreements made during closed-door sessions be publicly disclosed.