THE DEPARTMENT of Budget and Management (DBM) once again defended the use of unprogrammed appropriations, saying these are “fiscal buffers” and not “secret funds.”
For Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) Panay, behind these technical terms lies the same old story: a government budget made to serve the rich and powerful and not the ordinary toiling Filipino people.
The pattern from Marcos Sr. to Marcos Jr. has become clear: the use of public funds for plunder and political patronage, and dependence on foreign loans.
Under the 1987 Constitution, public money can only be spent if it is approved by law. But the so-called unprogrammed appropriations, described by the government as standby funds that can be used only if it earns “extra income” or takes out “new loans”, have become a convenient loophole. What began under Marcos Sr. as lump-sum “special funds” under the president’s control has now turned into a massive pool of money that the government can tap without clear transparency or accountability.
Through the years, each administration after Marcos Sr. expanded its use. Marcos Sr. concentrated all funds under Malacañang, while under Gloria Arroyo and Noynoy Aquino, unprogrammed funds were used as “hidden pork” in the name of flexibility. Under Rodrigo Duterte, these funds ballooned to over P200 billion, hidden behind the “Build, Build, Build” program.
But Marcos Jr. went even further to approve as much as P731 billion in unprogrammed funds for 2024, the biggest in our history — while Filipinos face high prices, low wages, and a lack of social services.
In truth, unprogrammed appropriations are not “extra” funds from efficient governance but borrowed money and foreign loans often tied to questionable projects. In 2024, for example, P7.088 billion in unprogrammed funds was used for the Jalaur River Multipurpose Project Phase II (JRMP II), a project linked to environmental destruction and violations of the rights of the Tumandok people. For BAYAN Panay, this is not “fiscal management” but legalized plunder.
These unprogrammed funds often become a reserve chest for political patronage released at the whim of the president, distributed to loyal allies in Congress, and dangled before local politicians to keep them in line.
Moreover, unprogrammed appropriations bind the budgeting process to the same economic policy that depends on loans from foreign creditors like the World Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Export-Import Bank of Korea (KEXIM), keeping the country trapped in debt while the people shoulder the cost.
If a project is truly important, it should be properly planned and democratically approved, not left to conditional “unprogrammed” spending or new loans. Instead of funding corruption, military spending, and massive foreign debt payments, public spending should guarantee basic social services like health, education, housing, food, and water; living wages and job security for workers; genuine land reform so farmers can freely own and till their land; and national industrialization so we can process our own resources and create local jobs instead of relying on imports.
Funds like “unprogrammed appropriations,” “special purpose funds,” and “confidential funds” are features of the national budget under bureaucrat capitalism, wherein government officials use their positions to do business, earn commissions, and protect their private wealth. In this system run by big landlords, big businesses and political dynasties, the budget becomes a tool to serve their greed — not to improve people’s lives.
From Marcos Sr. to Marcos Jr., nothing has changed: the same families still rule, the same corruption continues, and the same people suffer. Hence, the fight against unprogrammed funds is a fight against bureaucrat capitalism. It is time to end the cycle of programmed plunder and demand a government that truly serves the people.
We must build the people’s power where ordinary citizens, workers, and farmers have a real voice in deciding how our country’s wealth is used. – BAGONG ALYANSANG MAKABAYAN – PANAY <bayanpanay2014@gmail.com>
