Manila, Philippines – Following the signing of the 2026 General Appropriations Act, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. vetoed over P92.5 billion in unprogrammed funds aimed at preventing corruption.
Among the amounts vetoed is the P43.2 billion allotted for payment of personnel services requirements , which ACT Teacher’s Partylist Representative Antonio Tinio claimed to negatively impact funding for salaries and benefits of government employees, including teachers and uniformed personnel.
On this amount, Tinio noted that P10.8 billion for hiring of new personnel and regularization were cut, as well as the P32.47 billion allotted for leave and retirement benefits of uniformed personnel.
Tinio argued that with the fund vetoed, release of salaries and benefits of government workers will be delayed over the guise of “lack in funding:” “This appropriation, meant to pay for hiring of new personnel and payment of retirement benefits of civilian and uniformed personnel, originally included in the National Expenditure Program submitted by Malacañang itself, but bumped off to Unprogramed Appropriations by the bicameral conference committee to make room for insertions, has now been completely cut from the GAA with the President’s veto.”
His veto message makes no explanation or justification whatsoever for this specific veto, nor has the President made any committment that additional or supplemental appropriations to cover this deficiency will be forthcoming.”
The Department of Budget and Management (DBM), however, debunked these claims, emphasizing that funding for salaries and benefits remain intact under the 2026 GAA.
DBM clarified that the P24 billion allotted for the subsistence allowance for uniformed personnel were simply transferred from Miscellaneous Personal Benefits Fund (MPBF) to the concerned agencies’ budgets.
Hence, the funding for this matter was directly given to the budget of the respective agencies, and that this won’t be affected despite the veto.
“These were not removed, not postponed, and will not be delayed. Since these are no longer under the MPBF, claims that they will be affected are not accurate.
This move follows the government’s policy of placing regular and specific benefits directly under agency budgets, so funds can be released and used more directly, faster, and with greater transparency,” it said.
This response was once again criticized by Tinio, noting that the issue is not the P24 billion under MPBF, rather, the P43.2 billion in unprogrammed funds vetoed by the President.
When asked about the matter, Senate Finance Committee Chair Sherwin Gatchalian supported DBM’s arguments, affirming that under the 2026 GAA, salaries and beenfits for government employees are not affected.
Gatchalian said that despite the veto, there will still be enough budget to fund and address the salaries and hiring within the government.—Mia Layaguin, Eurotv News