President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. (Noel Pabalate/ MANILA BULLETIN)

President Marcos' decision to keep the unprogrammed funds in the P5.768-trillion national budget for 2024 is a "laudable Christmas gift to all Filipinos".

Thus, said Ako Bicol Party-list Rep. Zaldy Co, chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations, which played a huge part in the passage of the 2024 General Appropriations Act (GAA).

"I salute the President for being decisive in approving the GAA budget and sustaining the unprogrammed funds, which is an unprecedented 300 percent increase on anti-inflationary measures for our near-poor Filipino brothers," Co said in a statement Saturday afternoon, Dec. 23.

"It’s a truly laudable Christmas gift to all Filipinos especially with the expanded ayuda or AKAP, the Ayuda sa Kapos ang Kita Program — a new program for 12 million Filipino households, for the near-poor Filipino families earning just P23,000 per month," he said.

"If there are excess revenues, the unprogrammed funds would directly benefit our near-poor Filipino countrymen. Unprogrammed funds are not new and let’s hope and pray that we have excess revenues so that we can provide more ayuda to our Filipino brothers," Co explained.

President Marcos signed the 2024 spending plan last Wednesday, Dec. 20 during a simple ceremony in Malacañang. Only two provisions were vetoed.

Co further highlighted the pro-poor nature of the P5.768-trillion budget--the biggest in the country’s history.

"This year’s budget is a true budget centered on the 70 percent Filipinos who are near-poor. We also have anti-inflationary measures regarding rice that would benefit farmers and all the Filipinos that would get cheap rice," he said.

Earlier, House Speaker Martin Romualdez highlighted that some P500 billion worth of funds have been set aside for 12 million poor Filipino families, or around 48 million individuals.

“For the first time, under the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., we are allocating half-a-trillion pesos, or about nine percent of the national budget, as assistance to the poor and households with insufficient income,” Romualdez said.

“We are hoping that in some way, we are able to support people who badly need government help to get them through hard times,” said the leader of the 300-plus strong House of Representatives.