MANILA — Senator Erwin Tulfo welcomed the signing of the P6.793-trillion national budget for fiscal year 2026 and lauded President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s veto of P92.5 billion worth of projects under the unprogrammed appropriations.

“We welcome President Marcos’ signing of the 2026 General Appropriations Act, which we believe is the most transparent budget law in the recent history,” Tulfo said in a statement.

“This is what we need, a budget that will restore the public’s trust to the government. We are grateful that the President heeded our call to limit the use of unprogrammed appropriations and vetoed P92.5 billion worth of projects lodged under this budgetary mechanism,” he added.

Tulfo, who serves as vice chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, had earlier questioned the bicameral conference committee’s retention of P243 billion in unprogrammed appropriations under the final version of the 2026 budget bill, warning that such funds could be susceptible to misuse.

The senator previously pointed out that these unprogrammed funds were linked to ghost flood control projects and other questionable infrastructure programs.

Executive Secretary Ralph Recto said that among the items included in the P92.5 billion vetoed unprogrammed funds was the P80.8 billion “lump sum” for the Strengthening Assistance for Government Infrastructure and Social Programs (SAGIP).

“President Marcos’ decision to veto several items under the unprogrammed funds is just a step toward full and real accountability,” Tulfo said.

The neophyte senator also underscored that the passage of the 2026 budget marks the start of Congress’ oversight role.

“While the Senate and House of Representatives were able to push for transparency features such as accessible budget portals and live streaming of the Bicam for this year’s budget, we carry the huge responsibility to ensure that every single peso is for the benefit of the Filipino. We will be on the lookout on how every project will be accomplished so there will be no more unfinished or substandard projects in the future. This is only the beginning of a genuine reform in the government,” Tulfo said.