MANILA, Philippines — A total of P10 billion was allotted for the Revised Armed Forces of the Philippines Modernization Program (RAFPMP) in 2024, but was reallocated to unprogrammed funds.
During the Department of National Defense’s (DND) budget hearing on Tuesday, September 25, Sen. JV Ejercito asked Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro about the programs that could be affected if the agency did not get its full wishlist of budget items.
Teodoro pointed out that there were items in the DND’s proposed modernization budget that went to unprogrammed funds.
“Last year, a portion of the modernization went to unprogrammed [funds]. My question, because of that, has all of the unprogrammed, has that portion been released?” Ejercito asked in a mix of English and Filipino.
“None, your honor. None has been released,” Teodoro replied.
Philstar.com asked the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) for a comment on this item.
The DBM said that the particular program, listed as the Revised Armed Forces of the Philippines Modernization Program (RAFPMP), has P40 billion allocated for it. The DBM originally proposed P50 billion.
It was Congress that decided to slash this by P10 billion and move it to the unprogrammed funds.
“In the 2024 National Expenditure Program, we programmed P50 billion for RAFPMP but Congress deemed it proper to lower it to P40 billion and placed the P10 billion under Unprogrammed Appropriation - RAFPMP in the General Appropriations Act,” the DBM said.
The DBM also cannot release the P10 billion to the DND yet, as the budget is simply not there.
“The P10 [billion] allocation for the RAFPMP in the Unprogrammed Appropriation is currently awaiting identification of excess revenues in order to support the release,” the DBM said.
However, should the appropriate funds not be found for the RAFPMP by Dec. 31, 2024, the DBM said that the P10 billion “can no longer be used/released as such.”
Out of the P40 billion part of the allocated budget for the RAFPMP, there is only a balance of P2.4 billion left.
Senators Bato dela Rosa and Ejercito were surprised at the reallocation.
“Pag priority programs, [it] should be always in the line item, especially, as what the secretary mentioned, these are really essential, especially in our situation right now. Naghahabol tayo, babawasan pa,” Ejercito said.
(If it’s a priority program, it should always be a line item, especially as what the secretary mentioned, these are really essential, especially in our situation right now.)
Dela Rosa, a former Philippine National Police chief, was also dismayed by this reallocation. He is tasked with defending the DND’s budget in the Senate plenary.
“Para tayong naglolokohan. Pag sinabi mong priority programs ito, oo priority 'yan, pero ilagay natin sa unprogrammed. Para tayong naglolokohan kung ganon,” Dela Rosa said.
(It is like we are fooling around. If you say that it is a priority program, yes it is a priority but you put it in the unprogrammed. We are just messing around if it’s like that.)
This is not the first time that Congress has reallocated the funds from an agency to unprogrammed funds in the 2024 budget. Senators were shocked to find that the Department of Transportation’s budget was slashed from a proposed P213.7 billion to P41.2 billion in the approved budget.