Makabayan solon ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio exposed before dawn Tuesday, Sept. 30 what he described as the massive abuse of unprogrammed appropriations under President Marcos.

Tinio, a deputy minority leader, did so during the House plenary debates on the proposed 2026 budget of Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

According to Tinio, President Marcos personally approved nearly 4,000 infrastructure projects worth ₱214.4 billion in a span of just over two years.

Based on official data obtained from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), Tinio disclosed that the DPWH received ₱61.4 billion in unprogrammed appropriations in 2023 for 1,889 projects, and a staggering ₱153 billion in 2024 for 1,811 projects.

"Ganito po ang unprogrammed appropriations - parang may isa pang infrastructure budget entirely. Sa panahon na lang ng budget execution, napupunuan ng halos 4,000 bagong proyekto," Tinio said.

(This is how unprogrammed appropriations work--it's like there's another infrastructure budget entirely. Up to 4,000 new projects can be funded during budget execution.)

President Marcos took over the reins in Malacañang on June 30, 2022.

The militant lawmaker explained that unprogrammed appropriations are lump-sum allocations without line items in the General Appropriations Act (GAA) or enacted budget. He says this makes them essentially invisible to public scrutiny.

"Walang readily available na listahan ng mga laman. Hindi po transparent, wala pa tayong full transparency kaugnay kung saan nilaan ang napakalaking mga halaga (There's no readily available list of items. It's not transparent, we don't have full transparency as to where these huge amounts are allocated)," he stressed.

Tinio highlighted the historical increase and abuse of unprogrammed appropriations. He noted that they reached unprecedented levels: ₱807 billion in 2023, ₱731 billion in 2024, and ₱363 billion projected for 2025.

"Pambihira po ang naging paglaki ng unprogrammed appropriations. Walang kapantay actually kung bumalik pa tayo sa past 10 years or more (The growth in unprecedented appropriations is incredible. It's unprecedented even if we go back 10 years or more)," he pointed out.

Most significantly, Tinio established that all these projects required presidential approval under the Administrative Code.

Citing Section 35, Chapter 5, Book 6 of Executive Order No. 292, he read: "Expenditures from lump sum appropriations... shall be made in accordance with a special budget to be approved by the President."

"Ang nag-approve po ng lahat ng mga proyekto sa unprogrammed appropriations ay ang Presidente mismo (The person who approved all the projects in the unprogrammed appropriations was the President himself). The approval is clearly with the President," Tinio emphasized.

He says this revelation directly contradicts Malacañang's claims that the President has no role in infrastructure corruption issues.

"Ang sabi po ng Palasyo na wala pong role ang Presidente sa issue ng flood control. Hindi siya involved sa corruption. However, ang malinaw po na na-establish natin, ang approval ng almost over 4,000 additional infrastructure projects funded from unprogrammed appropriations ay lahat po yan, para mapondohan, kailangang aprubahan po ng Presidente.

(The Palace said that the President has no role in the issue of flood control. He is not involved in corruption. However, what has been clearly established is that the approval of almost over 4,000 additional infrastructure projects funded from unprogrammed appropriations—all of these, in order to be funded, must be approved by the President.)

"Malacanang should now explain the basis for the releases and stop washing its hands off the corruption allegations," Tinio concluded.