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MANILA, Philippines — President Marcos did not actually veto any spending items in the P6.793-trillion 2026 national budget, as the portions he struck were limited to unprogrammed appropriations (UA), which are not yet backed by available funds, his sister, Sen. Imee Marcos, said.
In an interview on ANC, Marcos challenged claims that the 2026 General Appropriations Act (GAA) is the “cleanest” budget to date.
She noted that while no programmed budget items were removed, large allocations she described as “pork” remain intact.
“The truth is, nothing was vetoed,” Marcos said in Filipino, explaining that UA are standby items that can only be released once excess revenues, savings or new financing materialize.
Marcos said the veto only affected these items and did not remove any projects already funded under the regular budget.
She described the budget as “the sneakiest,” saying pork barrel funds were merely fragmented and redistributed across multiple items.
“In other words, the pork was chopped, broken into parts and spread out. But even after being ground up, it’s still pork,” she said.
Marcos also questioned why certain allocations, such as farm-to-market (FMR) roads, more than doubled despite concerns about political patronage.
“I am an advocate for agriculture, but this FMR has more than doubled. Does this mean it became a farm-to-pocket road?” she said.
Marcos also flagged the sharp rise in government aid and medical assistance, cautioning that these could be used for political leverage ahead of upcoming elections.
She criticized the Department of Health’s Medical Assistance to Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients, saying aid should be delivered directly to hospitals rather than through lawmakers.
“Does a Filipino really have to bow to a politician just to get treated or admitted to a hospital?” she asked.
She also noted the sudden inclusion of a P10-billion Presidential Assistance to Farmers and Fisherfolk (PAFF), which appeared only during bicameral conference committee deliberations.
Marcos warned that additional aid mechanisms could create confusion over who qualifies for assistance, including fisherfolk, whom she described as among the poorest.
Underfunding
In signing the national budget, President Marcos reportedly vetoed P92.5 billion – or roughly 38 percent – of the P243.4-billion UA.
Only P150.905 billion remained, including P97.3 billion for foreign-assisted projects, P50 billion for the revised Armed Forces of the Philippines Modernization Program and P3.6 billion for risk management programs.
Despite Imee’s claims, the reported move still drew strong criticism from various groups and political figures.
The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Philippines said President Marcos’ decision to remove P43.245 billion intended for the salaries of new government workers and the terminal benefits of retiring personnel would have serious consequences.
ACT chairperson Ruby Bernardo rejected the Department of Budget and Management’s defense of the removal of funds under UA for personnel services.
“The DBM has made many excuses. It is clear that among the funds removed and refused to be signed by the President is P43.2 billion that was supposed to be allocated for the salaries and regular work of new teachers and government employees and benefits for those about to graduate from service,” Bernardo said, noting that the vetoed amount includes P10.772 billion meant for hiring new personnel.
Bernardo said the decision would affect more than 259,000 job order and contract of service workers in the national government, including over 41,000 professors, instructors and administrative staff in state universities and colleges.
ACT warned that the veto prevents these workers from being hired as regular employees, leaving them “forced to endure yet another year of being underpaid and overworked.”
“On the first day of school this year, what the administration did was scrap the funds for its own staff while billions of funds are still being spent on corruption, patronizing corrupt politicians and suppressing the people,” she added.
Despite the record P1.35-trillion education budget, ACT said funding for the sector remains insufficient.
“The much-publicized P1.35-trillion allocation, supposedly equivalent to 4.4 percent of GDP, is historically symbolic – an indictment of decades of chronic underfunding – but remains structurally inadequate,” Bernardo said.
Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, for his part, also weighed in and expressed concern over some of the nine vetoed items in the UA of the 2026 GAA.
In a statement, Gatchalian said he was particularly concerned about the P4.32-billion standby fund for the Comprehensive Automotive Resurgence Strategy program.
The CARS program was supposed to help the government pay the tax incentives promised to car manufacturers Toyota and Mitsubishi.
Other than this program, Gatchalian said he has no problems with the remaining UA items because these are for “targeted programs” like the revised military modernization.
He thanked the President for not vetoing any items under the regular programmed appropriations and announced plans to organize a joint congressional oversight committee on public expenditures to monitor underspending, foreign-assisted projects and potentially “ghost” projects.
“This committee will oversee contentious items so we can tackle issues ahead of time and understand the context before the next budget season,” he said.
Clear win
While teachers’ groups and senators denounced and expressed concern over the veto of certain appropriations, lawmakers who have long sought budget reforms viewed the President’s action from a different lens.
Bagong Henerasyon party-list Rep. Robert Nazal described Marcos’ decision as a step toward greater fiscal discipline.
“This is a partial victory, and the President made the right call,” Nazal said, adding that vetoing most of the unprogrammed items “is a meaningful win for transparency.”
BH party-list had pushed for a full removal of UA but acknowledged the significance of the partial veto.
“What matters is the signal. The President recognized the risks posed by unprogrammed funds and acted. That strengthens accountability and protects public money,” Nazal said.
He added that the veto should serve as a starting point for further reforms.
“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,” Nazal said. — Marc Jayson Cayabyab, Bella Cariaso, Jose Rodel Clapano
