Davao City 3rd District Representative Isidro Ungab has raised red flags over the Department of Budget and Management’s (DBM) release of additional funds to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), sourced from Unprogrammed Appropriations in the 2024 and 2025 national budgets.

Speaking during deliberations on lump-sum allocations under the proposed 2026 National Budget, Ungab emphasized that Unprogrammed Appropriations—classified under Disaggregated Special Purpose Funds—must strictly adhere to the General and Special Provisions of the annual General Appropriations Act (GAA) and the Revised Administrative Code of 1987.

Ungab revealed that as of August 31, 2025, DPWH had received ₱58.545 billion in additional releases from Unprogrammed Appropriations, raising its total budget from ₱1.088 trillion to ₱1.148 trillion. In contrast, the education sector received a base budget of ₱984.57 billion, supplemented by only ₱9.89 billion in Unprogrammed Appropriations, for a total of ₱994.46 billion.

“This means that DPWH’s 2025 budget eventually grew larger than the total appropriations for education—despite education being a constitutional priority,” Ungab pointed out.

He cautioned that DBM should have exercised greater restraint, especially since the 2025 budget is currently under challenge before the Supreme Court. One of the central issues in the case is whether infrastructure spending can legally surpass education allocations, which the Constitution mandates as the highest priority.

“The DBM should bear in mind that any further increase in the DPWH budget from Unprogrammed Appropriations will only widen the gap between infrastructure and education spending,” Ungab warned. “This undermines the constitutional imperative of prioritizing education.”

He cited Article XIV, Section 5(5) of the Constitution, which explicitly requires assigning the highest budgetary priority to education.