- Says it’s Fiscal Sabotage and international shame
Speaking during the plenary deliberations on the Development Budget Coordinating Committee (DBCC), Congressman, Isidro T. Ungab of the 3rd District of Davao City, delivered a sharp rebuke against what he called the “reckless and indefensible defunding” of Foreign-Assisted Projects (FAPs) in both the 2024 and 2025 national budgets.
“These budgets are perhaps the most distorted and compromised financial plans ever passed by Congress,” Congressman Sid Ungab declared. “We negotiated loans, signed agreements with the President’s authority, paid commitment fees—and yet, when the appropriations bill was signed into law, billions in project funding had mysteriously vanished from our programmed appropriations and were dumped into the Unprogrammed budget. This is fiscal sabotage, plain and simple.”
The figures, Ungab said, tell the story of betrayal:
• In 2024, of the ₱246 billion requested by the President for FAPs, Congress authorized only ₱4 billion. That means 98.4% of critical projects were killed outright in one stroke.
• In 2025, the request for ₱215.6 billion was once again gutted, with ₱150 billion left unfunded and pushed to Unprogrammed.
Entire agencies — the Department of Agrarian Reform, Department of Agriculture, Department of Health, Department of Education, and even the DPWH — received nothing for their international development projects in 2024.
“These are not luxuries. These are railways to decongest our cities, flood control systems to protect communities, and agricultural programs to feed our people. What kind of Congress celebrates signed loan agreements with JICA, ADB, or the World Bank — then turns around and tells them, ‘Sorry, we moved it to Unprogrammed. This is fiscal recklessness of the highest order,” Ungab warned.
Sovereign Guarantees Betrayed
FAPs carry sovereign guarantees — government pledges to pay, backed by the full faith and credit of the Republic of the Philippines. By refusing to program these projects, Congress has not only risked higher deficits and wasted taxpayer money on unused loan commitments, but also threatened the nation with:
• Possible credit rating downgrades
• Delays in flagship infrastructure projects
• Rising commitment fees
• A collapse of credibility with international financial institutions
“How do we face the World Bank, ADB, and JICA and other foreign creditors after this? How do we ask for new support when we cannot even honor projects that we begged them for? The whole budget process turned the Philippines into a laughingstock,” the lawmaker from Davao City said.
Who Is Responsible?
Congressman Sid Ungab demanded clarity on who in the Bicameral Conference Committee allowed this fiscal disaster to pass. “Either this was gross negligence or deliberate sabotage of our development agenda. Both are equally unacceptable. Some people must be held accountable for this monumental blunder. The Filipino people should not pay the price for incompetence, greed, or both,” Lawmaker stressed.
Call for Change
Ungab posed three urgent demands during plenary:
- A full explanation from the economic team on how they justified this mess to the lenders.
- A disclosure if this was ever raised during the LEDAC.
- A clear commitment from the Appropriations Committee to never again allow Foreign-Assisted Projects to be relegated to Unprogrammed funds.
“The time for excuses is over,” Lawmaker declared. “This betrayal of our national interest must be corrected, perpetrators must be held accountable, and systemic reforms must be put in place. Otherwise, we will continue to lose billions, damage our international reputation, and deprive our people of the development they desperately need.”
He ended with a stinging indictment: “This is shameless, shameful, and unacceptable. Tama na. Sobra na. The Filipino people deserve leaders who honor commitments and protect the future — not lawmakers who gamble away our credibility with fiscal games.”
