Rep. Ungab: 2025 National Budget Defective, Corrupted, and Failing the People

Press Release..

Rep. Ungab: 2025 National Budget Defective, Corrupted, and Failing the People

Davao City Representative Isidro Ungab has warned that the 2025 National Budget was “corrupted from the very start,” stressing that the most important services for Filipinos—such as education, health care, and disaster response—were compromised in favor of politically
motivated insertions.

Ungab recalled that as early as January, together with former President Rodrigo Duterte and former Executive Secretary Vic Rodriguez, they exposed the discovery of 28 blank items spanning 13 pages in the Bicameral Conference Committee (Bicam) Report. Despite this glaring error, the report was still approved and signed by
both Houses of Congress.

That same month, a petition was filed to declare the 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA) unconstitutional on the following grounds:
1. Education was downgraded. The budget for public schools and learning support was overtaken by the infrastructure budget of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), leaving Filipino students with less resources while roads, flood control and construction projects got the priority.
2. Health care was slashed. The original ₱74 billion allocation for PhilHealth—funds meant to ensure Filipinos can afford medical services—was completely deleted.
3. The budget was illegal on its face. The ratification of a
Bicam Report with 28 blank items renders the entire budget process defective.
4. Congress prioritized itself. The House of Representatives increased its own budget by ₱17.3 billion—over 106% higher than the
original NEP proposal—making it the single largest beneficiary of insertions at the expense of essential services.

Ungab further revealed on August 4—just one week into the opening of the 20th Congress—that the Bicam also tampered with Automatic Appropriations. Fourteen (14) earmarked revenues under the Special Accounts in the General Fund (SAGF) and Use of Income in the
General Fund (UIGF) were arbitrarily amended. These funds, he explained, are protected by special laws that guarantee resources for vital services such as health programs, environmental protection, and
sector-specific development. “Changing these earmarks through the GAA is unconstitutional,” Ungab warned, “and directly deprives our people of funds that rightfully belong to them.”

Ungab, a two-time chair of the House Committee on Appropriations, also flagged the massive increase in Unprogrammed Appropriations, ballooning from ₱158 billion to ₱531 billion—an increase of ₱373 billion. He underscored that this maneuver drained funds from
planned development priorities and replaced them with questionable, politically driven projects. A key example is the controversial Flood Control Projects, which have
swallowed up a staggering ₱680 billion from 2023 to 2025, excluding additional amounts hidden under unprogrammed funds. “How can the government defend pouring such massive sums into flood control projects while classrooms remain overcrowded, hospitals
underfunded, and rice prices beyond reach?” Ungab asked.

The congressman called on the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to publish in full detail all Flood Control projects funded under Unprogrammed Appropriations from 2023 to 2025. “The people have the right to know how their taxes are being spent—and
who truly benefits from these projects,” he stressed.

“These are not abstract numbers. Every peso misspent is a classroom not built, a hospital unequipped, a livelihood left unsupported,” Ungab declared. “That is why I have consistently called the 2025 National Budget the ‘most corrupt budget’ ever passed by Congress.”