Unlike some of his colleagues in the House minority bloc who hardly appreciated President Marcos' veto of P92.5 billion worth of unprogrammed appropriations (UA) in the 2026 national budget, Bagong Henerasyon (BH) Party-list Rep. Robert Nazal saw the move as a "win".

In a statement Tuesday, Jan. 6, Nazal, an assistant minority leader described Malacañang's rejection of certain items under UA as a clear step toward stronger fiscal discipline.

However, he underscored that it's only a "partial win", and that such reform must continue.

On Monday, during the signing of the P6.793-trillion General Appropriations Act (GAA) in Malacañang, President Marcos announced that he vetoed seven of the 10 unprogrammed items in the budget. He struck out allocations that have long been criticized as vulnerable to discretionary use.

“This is a partial victory, and the President made the right call. We have consistently warned that unprogrammed funds weaken fiscal discipline. Vetoing the majority of these items is a meaningful win for transparency,” Nazal said.

While BH Party-list had pushed for the removal of all unprogrammed funds from the national budget, it still acknowledged the significance of the President’s action.

“Of course, we wanted a full veto. But a win is a win. What matters is that real progress was made,” Nazal said.

The President retained three items—support to foreign-assisted projects, the program on risk management, and the revised Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) modernization program—while vetoing the rest, including budgetary support and prior-year local government unit (LGU) shares.

“What matters is the signal,” Nazal noted, even as some minority solons slammed the continued existence of UAs--which they tagged as "pork barrel"--in this year's outlay.

“The President recognized the risks posed by unprogrammed funds and acted. That strengthens accountability and protects public money.”

Nazal underscored that the veto should serve as a foundation for deeper budget reforms in the coming years.

“This should be the starting point, not the finish line. The goal remains to ensure that every peso in the national budget has a clear purpose and clear accountability,” he said.