President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Tuesday said that programs under the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) should be excluded from the unprogrammed appropriation next year “so that it would promptly be utilized.”
In a meeting with the officials of the DSWD in Malacañang, Marcos said this change would allow needy Filipinos to quickly benefit from government welfare programs.
“DSWD programs should no longer [be] in the unprogrammed appropriation next year,” the President told DSWD officials. “It should be included in the programmed so that it would promptly be utilized,” he added.
The meeting was held to discuss the results of agency budget review under the 2025 General Appropriations Act vis-à-vis the 2025 National Expenditure Program (NEP).
The Department of Budget and Management said that programmed appropriations serve as standby authority for additional agency obligations for priority programs or projects. These are utilized when revenue collections exceed targets or when additional grants or foreign funds are secured.
On the other hand, unprogrammed appropriations are akin to household purchases planned but only executed if extra funds, such as bonuses or loans, become available.
In the 2025 budget, Marcos vetoed P168 billion worth of unprogrammed appropriations.
The DSWD’s budget was reduced by P10.85 billion or 4.79 percent from P226.67 billion in the 2025 NEP to P215.82 billion in the approved 2025 national budget.
The agency is requesting P41.8 billion as additional funding from the Unprogrammed Appropriations to cover the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program grants for the period of August to December 2025.
Be the first to comment