The government could risk having more deficiencies in critical public infrastructure and services if arbitrary reallocation of funds continue under the General Appropriations Act (GAA) or the annual national budget.

Former Bagong Henerasyon (BH) Party List Rep. Bernadette Herrera gave this warning over the weekend following an admission by the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) during a Senate hearing that budget constraints contributed to the outages of the eGovPH Super App.

Herrera said there was no excuse for this considering how much should have been available to the agency for this very purpose.

She then exhorted the National Treasury to certify the national government's total cash balance and the available balances of all earmarked accounts.

“May humigit-kumulang P25.7 bilyon na earmarked revenue ang DICT mula sa Spectrum Users Fees (SUF). Pondo na malinaw na, ayon sa special provision ng GAA at sa RA (Republic Act) 10929, ay nakalaan para sa Free Public Internet Access Program (FPIAP) at ICT infrastructure at services at kasama dyan ang hosting services ng eGOV app. At nasa E-Gov Law RA 12254 na rin ito ngayon,” she said.

(The DICT has approximately P25.7 billion in earmarked revenue from Spectrum Users Fees (SUF). Funds that, under the special provision of the GAA and RA 10929, are clearly allocated for the Free Public Internet Access Program (FPIAP) and ICT infrastructure and services, including hosting services for the eGOV app. This is also now covered under the E-Gov Law RA 12254.)

During the House plenary debates on the 2025 GAA, which took place in 2024, Herrera was already questioning the arbitrary use of funds by the executive branch, particularly those identified for specific programs, activities and projects.

This includes the billions in revenues generated by the DICT, through the SUF being collected by the National Telecommunication Commission, which is under its jurisdiction.

Even then, the former congresswoman was already questioning the wisdom behind the practice of the executive branch of tapping into funds allocated to agencies for their programs to finance other items it deems to be more important.

As an example, Herrera cited the provision of free public Wi-Fi under RA 10929, that has constantly faced obstacles due to “lack of funds".

“Hindi ito dapat nangyari kung yung cash na para sa DICT ay hindi ginagamit ng gobyerno para sa ibang bagay! Akala ko ba sabi nyo sa akin noon ‘at any point in time na kailangan ng DICT ay pwede ito makuha ng ahensya.’ So anong nangyari ngayon?” Herrera recalled during the debates on the 2025 GAA.

(This should not have happened if the cash intended for DICT had not been used by government for other purposes! I thought you told me before, ‘at any point in time when DICT needs it, the agency can access it.’ So what happened now?)

During the Senate hearing last April 29, DICT Undersecretary David Almirol Jr. said the EGovPH app crashed for two days in April due to a surge of users.

Almirol said its servers were not capable of handling the volume of traffic and admitted that there were funds allocated to the DICT that were not released by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).

Based on the E-Governance Act, the E-Government Interoperability Fund (EIF) is established under Section 33 as a specialized financial mechanism to support the nation’s digital transformation.

The EIF will be primarily sourced from donations and fees as well as Spectrum Users Fees which currently accrue to the FPIAF created under RA No. 10929 or the "Free Internet Access in Public Places Act."

Herrera says the EIF is a special account in the general fund of the GAA that is managed by the DICT and is dedicated for the implementation of E-Government Programs, the FPIAP, maintenance of government websites, including the Electronic Local Government Unit system.

“Earmarked revenues are not fungible at lalong hindi dapat maging ‘FUN-gible’ sa ilalim ng anumang sistema na tinatrato ang pondo ng bayan na parang discretionary pool,” Herrera said.

(Earmarked revenues are not fungible, and they should never be treated as ‘FUN-gible’ under any system that handles public funds like a discretionary pool.)

“Matagal ko na itong panawagan--Transparency at accountability sa paggamit ng earmarked revenues. Cash is not always fungible! Earmarking a fund by law removes the fungibility of cash,” she added.

(I have long called for transparency and accountability in the use of earmarked revenues. Cash is not always fungible! Earmarking a fund by law removes the fungibility of cash.)

If the national government insists on using earmarked revenues for other purposes, Herrera said it is better “to make it legal and transparent by amending the one-fund concept under Presidential Decree No. 1177".