The P200 billion to be remitted by the national government from government-owned and controlled corporations will fund the salary increases of government employees and infrastructure programs.
In his opening speech for the Senate Committee on Health and Demography, Department of Finance (DOF) Secretary Ralph G. Recto reiterated that the excess funds from the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) and the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. will be utilized instead of inflicting new taxes and debts.
“Kung ano po ang listahan sa Unprogrammed Appropriations, na akda ng Kongreso, doon lang po maaaring dalhin ang pondo — walang labis, walang kulang,” Recto said.
“Mahirap pong malusutan ang DBM [Department of Budget and Management] dito. Hindi pwedeng lumabag sa GAA, ang bibliya ng gastusin,” he added.
[Whatever is on the list in the Unprogrammed Appropriations, as authored by Congress, that is the only place where the funds can be allocated — no more, no less. It's difficult to bypass the DBM here. It's not allowed to violate the GAA, the bible of expenses.]
Based on the DOF Circular 003-2024, PhilHealth is directed to remit P89.9 billion of unused government subsidies to the national treasury, while the PDIC will remit more than P100 billion.
Unprogrammed appropriations provide standby authority to incur additional agency obligations for priority programs or projects when revenue collection exceeds targets or when additional grants or foreign funds are generated.
The unprogrammed appropriations will mostly fund foreign-assisted projects worth P51.7 billion, such as the Davao City By-Pass Construction Project, Samal Island Davao City Connector Project, Panay-Guimaras-Negros Island Bridges, Bataan-Cavite Interlink Bridge Project, Metro Manila Subway Project.
Meanwhile, about P40 billion will aid in the proposed Salary Standardization Law VI.
“While these projects have been shelved aside to the Unprogrammed Appropriations column, these are vital projects that have to be funded. These are not just the President’s projects, but the people’s projects as well,” the finance chief said.
Recto, citing its cost-benefit analysis, said that the projects to be funded by the unprogrammed appropriations will raise economic growth by 0.7 percent, increase an additional P23 billion to P24.4 billion in revenues, and create “hundreds of thousands of jobs.”
He also added that the deficit ratio will increase to 6.4 percent from 5.6 percent if the projects are funded through additional borrowings, while the debt ratio will also rise to 61.4 percent from 60.6 percent.
“Magbabayad tayo ng karagdagang P12.7 billion na interest payments kada taon [We will pay an additional P12.7 billion in interest payments every year],” he further stated, noting that the country would not be able to hit the targets under the medium-term fiscal program.
The DOF earlier maintained that the fund transfer complies with all laws, specifically the General Appropriations Act of 2024, which imposed appropriations in excess of what the executive branch had originally proposed.