The national government is earmarking ₱111.984 billion in proposed unprogrammed appropriations (UA) for the 2027 fiscal year, marking its smallest share in nominal terms in eight years, according to Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Kim Robert de Leon.
Speaking at an economic forum at the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Assembly Hall in Manila on Friday, De Leon highlighted that the proposed standby funds account for roughly 1.6 percent of the entire 2027 spending plan.
”This is the lowest proposed UA at the NEP (National Expenditure Program) nominal terms since 2019, and the lowest UA to total expenditure program ratio since 1991,” he said.
The Budget Chief explained that the proposed UA allocation will fund foreign-assisted projects under legally mandated conditions and replenish fund balances remitted by the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation in 2024.
Addressing public concerns over discretionary allocations, De Leon stressed that unprogrammed standby allocations do not grant unchecked spending capabilities to executive offices.
”I want to make one point very clear. Unprogrammed does not mean unaccounted for. It is not a blank check, and it’s certainly not an unlimited spending authority,” De Leon said.
He underscored that standby funds are dedicated to designated purposes and can only be triggered when legal criteria and revenue targets are satisfied.
De Leon advocated for strict fiscal monitoring throughout the entire lifecycle of public funds, emphasizing that systemic measures must guarantee oversight long before monies are disbursed.
”Transparency should not begin only when there is already a scandal. It must be built into the system before every single peso is spent,” he said.
To ensure accountability, the government is executing the new Government Procurement Act, which promotes open contracting, permits public observation, enforces video records of bidding proceedings, and requires the disclosure of ultimate beneficial owners of participating companies.
Furthermore, the DBM is strengthening digital governance tools through the Centralized Open Monitoring Platform for Appropriations and Spending Statistics.
The system allows citizens to inspect budget records across stages—from the National Expenditure Program (NEP) and General Appropriations Act (GAA) down to specific releases and actual disbursements.
All government financial operations remain under the auditing jurisdiction of the Commission on Audit (COA), supplemented by civic engagement platforms.
”And through civil society participation in the Philippine Open Government Partnership, we are expanding opportunities for citizens to participate in the budget formulation, implementation and monitoring,” he said.