[In This Economy] A primary take a look at the proposed price range for 2026

All eyes are on the 2026 price range, what with the plethora of price range anomalies and controversies from final 12 months.

To recap, for the 2025 price range, the federal government selected to defund PhilHealth subsidies and cut back essential schooling and infrastructure budgets, simply to offer method for pork tasks and ayuda within the 2025 price range.

Many of those price range choices have been made within the penultimate step within the price range course of, which is the bicameral convention committee or bicam for brief. That’s the place the price range magic normally occurs. However lawmakers have been particularly brazen of their insertions final 12 months, main my buddy and UP Faculty of Economics colleague Cielo Magno to characterize the 2025 price range because the “most corrupt” price range in current historical past.

Quick-forward to right this moment, we’re diving headlong into the 2026 price range season. On August 13, the Division of Funds and Administration (DBM) submitted to Congress the Nationwide Expenditure Program, or the proposed price range for 2026. You’ll be able to test it out on the DBM web site.

The full price range will quantity to P6.793 trillion at most. However the allocations usually are not remaining but: within the subsequent months, Congress will deliberate and make many changes till December.

Listed below are 5 first impressions based mostly on my preliminary studying of the price range paperwork:

1. There’s nonetheless gargantuan unprogrammed funds (P250 billion)

One of many first issues I checked was the federal government’s proposed unprogrammed funds. These funds are line objects within the price range that can’t be spent on subsequent 12 months, except there are additional revenues collected by authorities.

For 2026, the Marcos administration is proposing virtually P250 billion in unprogrammed funds. The graph beneath exhibits the evolution of unprogrammed funds since 2010. Notice that they was once loads smaller through the administration of the late Benigno Aquino III. However beginning 2020, they breached P200 billion per 12 months, and exploded within the first three budgets of the Marcos Jr. administration.

The issue with unprogrammed funds is that that is the place lawmakers park in any other case essential spending objects (like foreign-assisted infrastructure tasks and AFP modernization) to make room for, and safe their very own, pet (pork) tasks within the programmed funds. Primarily based on previous tendencies, count on these funds to extend tremendously because the price range invoice passes by means of Congress.

2. Flood management tasks galore (P270 billion)

President Marcos Jr. not too long ago berated lawmakers who make simple cash from flood-control tasks, within the wake of horrible floods in previous weeks. However curiously, for 2026, his authorities continues to be proposing huge funds for flood management subsequent 12 months amounting to just about P270 billion. Count on this to extend as properly by the tip of the price range course of this 12 months.

The graph beneath exhibits what normally occurs. The federal government proposes colossal funds for flood management tasks and street networks. Then Congress, virtually like clockwork, expands these budgets to allow them to make a revenue. Marcos has thus far licensed practically one trillion pesos value of flood management tasks since 2023. (I don’t know why he selected to only point out P545.64 billion in his PR stunt on August 11. It was a extreme understatement.)

For all intents and functions, evidently this flood management modus operandi will proceed for 2026, as a result of I doubt that the President will wish to stand in the way in which of most lawmakers’ pork tasks. That shall be too politically expensive for him, particularly now that he’s a lame duck. (The larger concern is {that a} Marcos posing as an anti-corruption crusader will all the time be laughable to me.)

3. Restored PhilHealth subsidies

For 2025, lawmakers selected to allocate zero pesos for the federal government’s subsidies for PhilHealth. These subsidies stand in for the PhilHealth contributions of PWDs and senior residents. For 2026, the NEP exhibits that the Marcos administration selected to allot P53.3 billion for such subsidies.

However this by itself isn’t any assurance that PhilHealth is off the hook. Recall that the administration equally proposed within the 2025 NEP, subsidies of P74.43 billion. However Congress selected to slash that total fund, arguing that PhilHealth should spend its “reserve funds” first.

It’s good that the federal government has chosen to reinstate state subsidies for PhilHealth, as required by different legal guidelines. Maybe they don’t desire a repeat of the extraordinary public backlash they’ve acquired since 2024. And to be truthful, PhilHealth has considerably expanded advantages throughout the board, one thing that President Marcos enthused about in his newest State of the Nation Handle.

Let’s see, although, if the federal government will now not contact the funds of PhilHealth to pay for different essential bills.

In 2024, the Division of Finance ordered PhilHealth to remit P90 billion of its funds to the general public coffers, due to a provision within the 2024 price range, particularly the provisions for unprogrammed funds, which supplied: that authorities can fund these line objects from, amongst others, the “Fund steadiness of the Authorities-Owned or -Managed Companies (GOCCs) from any the rest ensuing from the evaluation and discount of their reserve funds to affordable ranges bearing in mind the disbursement from prior years.”

Curiously, this similar provision has been faraway from the 2025 price range and the 2026 NEP.

At any charge, let’s see what price range adjustments Congress will make the place PhilHealth is anxious.

4. Zero funds for AKAP — for now

In a press convention, Funds Secretary Amenah Pangandaman confirmed that AKAP, or Home Speaker Martin Romualdez’s pet Ayuda Para sa Kapos ang Kita Program, will obtain zero price range based mostly on the NEP.

However once more, it’s early days. Congress can nonetheless put in some AKAP funds because it pleases. Consultant Mikaela Suansing, the brand new chair of the Home appropriations committee, admitted in an ambush interview that she has “seen the worth of AKAP by way of serving to constituencies or sectors…”

The factor is, AKAP was inserted within the 2024 and 2025 budgets within the run-up to the 2025 elections. Primarily, it was an ayuda program that served as legalized vote-buying. Lawmakers even shamelessly went on mall excursions to tout AKAP.

However it’s not simply AKAP — lawmakers’ allocations for numerous ayuda packages have ballooned because the 2024 price range, as proven within the graph beneath. Solely time will inform if lawmakers shall be in a position to withstand inserting enormous funds for ayuda. However I guess they gained’t have the option to withstand.

5. Marcos’ confidential and intelligence funds 

A part of the articles of impeachment in opposition to Vice President Sara Duterte is about her allegedly gross misuse of confidential funds within the Workplace of the Vice President and the Division of Training she as soon as headed.

However the Workplace of the President itself continues to suggest enormous confidential funds (P2.25 billion) and intelligence funds (P2.31 billion) for 2026. These quantities have been actually unchanged because the 2023 price range, or Marcos’ first price range.

Why does Marcos want P4.56 billion value of confidential and intelligence funds yearly? What are these funds used for? If the administration’s authorized assaults on VP Duterte are to have any credibility in any respect, Marcos himself ought to cleared the path towards transparency and accountability by considerably shaving off his personal secret funds.

All in all, some adjustments within the 2026 price range stem from the extraordinary public scrutiny from final 12 months. We have to preserve piling on the stress on our lawmakers, to be sure that price range shenanigans are put to a minimal this 12 months — if our leaders can empower themselves to “reasonable their greed.” – Rappler.com

JC Punongbayan, PhD is an assistant professor on the UP Faculty of Economics and the writer of False Nostalgia: The Marcos “Golden Age” Myths and How one can Debunk Them. In 2024, he acquired The Excellent Younger Males (TOYM) Award for economics. Comply with him on Instagram (@jcpunongbayan).