Rappler
Bicam approves P243-B unprogrammed funds, higher than Senate’s version
Lawmakers in the bicameral conference committee have agreed on P243.40 billion in unprogrammed appropriations (UA) for 2026, largely adopting the House of Representatives' version.
This amount is more than three times larger than the Senate's proposed P68.77 billion.
The final figure is slightly less than the executive branch's original proposal of P249.98 billion.
Concerns about the UA's use for flood control projects were raised, but Senate finance committee chairperson Sherwin Gatchalian assured these specific items have been removed from the bicam version.
The remaining UA items are targeted for the Armed Forces of the Philippines' modernization program and support for foreign-assisted projects.
Gatchalian explained these were not placed under programmed appropriations due to their large amounts and the timing of funding needs, with most projects requiring funds in the second quarter of 2026.
Topics in this story
Explore more stories about these topics.
🤖
This story was generated by AI to help you understand the key points. For more detailed coverage, please see the news articles from trusted media outlets below.
News Sources
See how different news organizations are covering this story. Below are the original articles from various Philippine news sources that contributed to this summary.
The bicameral conference committee has approved the P889.2 million budget for the Office of the Vice President (OVP) for 2026.
Read more →
Lawmakers from the Makabayan bloc in the House of Representatives are set to vote against the bicameral conference committee's approved version of the 2026 national budget.
Read more →