Lagman questions 2026 budget over unprogrammed appropriations

By Rhaydz B. Barcia

Legazpi City — Albay 1st District Representative Cielo Krisel B. Lagman has refused to sign the proposed 2026 national budget, citing its heavy reliance on unprogrammed appropriations despite the implementation of some budgetary reforms.

“I remain conscionably disturbed by the continuing presence of unprogrammed appropriations. To prevent a repeat of the grave abuses linked to these funds, I would personally opt for their complete removal,” Lagman said in a statement sent to The Manila Times.

She voted “No” to House Bill 4058, explaining that although some procedural and substantive reforms were adopted, they were not enough to outweigh the risks posed by the unprogrammed appropriations.

“I vote ‘No’ to House Bill 4058 despite some budgetary reforms that I hope will be sustained and improved by future Congresses,” she added.

Lagman said she would only consider supporting unprogrammed appropriations under strict conditions:

1. Concrete safeguards must be in place to prevent arbitrary insertions and the diversion of funds from programmed to unprogrammed appropriations—hence the need for a truly transparent and institutionalized bicameral conference.

2. Use must be limited to the prompt and adequate delivery of urgently needed social and economic services.

3. The total amount in the General Appropriations Act (GAA) must not exceed what was originally proposed in the National Expenditure Program (NEP), as was the case for the FY 2024 and 2025 budgets.

“The Congressional power of the purse must be asserted—but asserted judiciously,” she emphasized.

Lagman also expressed concern that the 2026 budget only earmarks funds for interest payments, with no provision for principal debt reduction. “The country must make over one trillion pesos in principal payments, funded by additional domestic and foreign borrowings,” she warned.

“To cover a P1.6 trillion budget deficit, borrowings must exceed P2.6 trillion. It will be more than Herculean to extricate the country from the national debt trap, which has reached P17.47 trillion as of August 2025,” Lagman added.

She recommended that in case of contingencies, a supplemental budget—rather than an open-ended unprogrammed fund—would provide a better balance between urgency and legislative scrutiny.

“It is enough that a large portion of our budgetary power is already constrained. Nearly one trillion pesos is automatically earmarked for debt servicing—a sum that could instead fund thousands of classrooms or nutrition and health programs,” Lagman said.

She reiterated her rejection of House Bill 4058: “I stand by my ‘No’ vote.”

It may be recalled that Lagman was also a vocal critic of the 2025 national budget, which she said was rife with fund insertions. She also revealed that a proposed P1.8 billion allocation for her father’s district was removed during the bicameral deliberations.

Lagman accused former House appropriations chairman Elizaldy S. Co of orchestrating the diversion of the funds, while retaining a P700-million allocation for the Alimsog Road project in Sto. Domingo—leading to a beach property allegedly owned by Co's family.