Vow of transparency: Which items did Marcos veto from the 2026 budget?

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January 5, 2026 | 4:23pm

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. vetoed around P92.5 billion worth of items in the 2026 General Appropriations Act (GAA)— all of which were located in the unprogrammed appropriations (UA).

During the ceremonial signing of the 2026 budget, Marcos acknowledged the massive corruption scandal that plagued his administration in the previous year, emphasizing the need for a cleaner budget to rebuild public trust. 

Marcos vetoed the following items: 

• Budgetary support to Government-Owned or -Controlled Corporations - P6,895,000,000
• Prior Years’ Shares for Local Government Units - P14,623,000
• Payment of Personnel Services Requirements - P43,245,110,000
• Fiscal support to Comprehensive Automotive Resurgence Strategy (CARS) - P4,320,765,000
• Insurance Premium for government assets - P2,000,000,000
• Revitalizing the Automotive Industry for Competitiveness Enhancement (RACE) program - P250,000,000
• Government of the Philippines counterpart for Foreign Assisted Projects - P35,769,481 

Through the CARS programs, the government is designated to provide fixed investment support and production incentives. 

In a similar vein, the RACE program also seeks to support the local manufacturing of cars in the Philippines. 

“The veto of these items is a measured exercise of Executive authority to rebuild public trust in the budget process, by ensuring that public funds are expended in clear service of national interests. I direct all concerned departments and agencies of the national government to exercise prudent fiscal management to ensure uninterrupted quality public service,” Marcos said in his veto message. 

Personnel services issue. The bicameral conference committee had earlier moved the payment of personnel services requirements into the UA, a move criticized by ACT Teachers Rep. Antonio Tinio, who warned it could affect government workers’ benefits.

Marcos opted to veto the Payment of Personnel Services item altogether, reasoning that the increase in benefits of civil servants and military and uniformed personnel are already part of the budget’s line items. 

“I specifically note that the scheduled increases in benefits of our civil servants, including our military and uniformed personnel, are part of programmed expenditures and will not be affected by the veto of the pertinent purpose of the UA," the president explained in a message.

"The same is also true for the Government’s counterpart funding for ongoing foreign-assisted projects that are lodged within the concerned departments to ensure continuous implementation of our flagship projects that will provide greater benefit to our people,” he added.

The Department of Budget and Management also explained that the budget for the required benefits has already been lodged in the right agencies, therefore it does not need to be in the UA. 

The president also explained that the insurance of government assets may be paid by existing appropriations, or, if needed, augmented through other sources, as determined by the Department of Budget and Management. 

Which are the remaining unallocated funds in the budget? 

Only three items were retained in the UA, namely the following: 

• Revised Armed Forces of the Philippines Modernization Program – P50 billion 
• Risk management program – P3.6 billion 
• Support to Foreign-Assisted Projects – P97.305 billion 

This brings the total UA down to P150.905 billion—the lowest it has been since 2019. 

Vow of transparency. During the ceremonial signing of the budget, Marcos emphasized that the UA will not be used as blank checks. 

“We will not allow the Unprogrammed Appropriations to be misused or treated as a backdoor for discretionary spending. Its utilization is provided with safeguards and is only available when clearly defined triggers and tests are met and will be released only after careful validation,” Marcos said. 

“My administration will enforce these safeguards without exception to serve the public interest and to advance our national development goals. We will make releases charged from the UA transparent, providing the necessary details on the funding source and the corresponding purpose,” he added. 

Budget watchdog groups have called upon Marcos to veto several hard, soft and shadow pork items in the budget. The People’s Budget Coalition and the Roundtable have labeled UA items as "shadow pork," due to their release having limited transparency.