Senate Finance Committee Chair Sherwin “Win” Gatchalian has called for the scrapping of unprogrammed funds in the national budget, citing risks of misuse and corruption due to the lack of transparency and accountability in how funds are allocated and spent.

During the Kapihan sa Senado on Thursday, Gatchalian said that he advised Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III to remove unprogrammed funds from the national budget, except those meant for foreign-assisted projects and programs.

He explained that foreign-assisted programs require specific budget items, as loan disbursements are expected by 2026.

Gatchalian raised concerns about a large lump-sum fund to Strengthening Assistance for Government Infrastructure and Social Programs (SAGIP), which amounts to between P100 billion and P120 billion. He noted that this fund is not itemized, allowing virtually any project to be inserted into it without transparency.

However, in the 2023 and 2024 budgets, he said that about half of the SAGIP funds went to flood control projects, expenditures made by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) without prior breakdowns, as they were drawn from unprogrammed funds and later approved by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).

He warned that this lack of itemization opens the door for misuse and circumvents proper congressional oversight.

Gatchalian acknowledged that allocating unprogrammed funds is technically allowed, but raised concerns over the lack of transparency.

He pointed out that lawmakers often learn about the projects only after they have already been implemented. To prevent this, he recommends retaining only the foreign-assisted components of the unprogrammed funds and scrapping the rest.