DBM: 94.1% of 2026 budget released

MANILA, Philippines —  The Marcos administration has released roughly 94.1 percent of the P6.793-trillion national budget as of end-August, a slightly slower pace than the previous year’s, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said.

Data from the Status of Allotment Releases report showed that the DBM released P6.39 trillion in the first eight months of the year, representing 94.1 percent of the total allocation.

This leaves about P401.38 billion still to be released in the remaining four months.

The releases are behind the 95.5 percent allotment release rate posted in the same period under the 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA).

Of the total released under the 2026 GAA, P3.47 trillion went to government departments, with a release rate of 94.5 percent of the adjusted P3.67-trillion programmed budget.

Among major agencies that had relatively lower release rates of their programs are the Department of Agriculture (DA) and Department of Tourism (DOT), which received below 90 percent of their program as of end-August.

The DA had only 68.8 percent of its P163.26-billion budget, slower than the 96.7 percent release rate posted a year ago.

Meanwhile, the DOT had P4.05 billion, or 87.4 percent, of its P4.64-billion adjusted program released.

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) received 99.5 percent of its P530.12-billion budget as of end-August.

The Department of Education, which has the highest allocation in the national budget, received 92.5 percent of its record-high P961.14-billion budget, below last year’s 95.9-percent pace.

In terms of special purpose funds, the government has already released P518.52 billion, which is 72.1 percent of the adjusted P719.07-billion budget.

Automatic appropriations are at 89.9 percent or P2.16 trillion of the P2.4-trillion aggregate funding.

On the other hand, P120.11 billion was released for unprogrammed appropriations, particularly to support foreign-assisted projects.

Unprogrammed appropriations provide standby authority to incur additional agency obligations for priority programs or projects when revenue collection exceeds targets or when additional grants or foreign funds are generated.

The bulk of the unprogrammed appropriations, worth P80.15 billion, went to the Department of Transportation, P25.55 billion to DPWH, P13.88 billion to the Department of Social Welfare and Development, P511.03 million to Philippine Competition Commission and P23.79 million to the Department of Health.

PhilHealth budget

The government is proposing P74.45 billion for the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) in 2027, including P19 billion for improvements to benefit packages and other priority health interventions, according to the DBM.

The P19-billion funding is intended to support improvements in health benefits covering priority concerns such as mental health and severe malnutrition, as well as assistance involving hospitals operated by local government units (LGUs).

It will also cover the national government’s premium subsidies for qualified beneficiaries. About 11.09 million beneficiaries are targeted to receive the subsidies in 2027, up from around 10.65 million in 2026.

The proposed funding comes as the government implements measures intended to reduce patients’ out-of-pocket expenses for hospitalization.

In September, the DBM approved P10.377 billion for the implementation of the Zero Balance Billing (ZBB) program, including P9.377 billion for DOH hospitals nationwide and P1 billion for six pilot LGU hospitals in Benguet, Batangas, Laguna, Quezon, Aklan and Sarangani.

The DBM also released an additional P800 million to the Philippine General Hospital, specifically for ZBB.

DBM acting Secretary Kim Robert de Leon said government spending on health should result in direct assistance to patients.

“Every peso we release for health must ultimately reach the patient,” De Leon said in August.

He reiterated the point following the approval of the P10.377-billion ZBB funding.

“No Filipino should have to choose between obtaining the medical care they need and protecting their family from a hospital bill they cannot afford. This P10.377-billion release is intended to ensure that when our people become ill, the government is there to help shoulder the financial burden,” De Leon said.

The proposed PhilHealth allocation is part of the P353.8-billion health sector budget proposed for 2027. It also includes P107.29 billion for the operations of 72 DOH regional hospitals and other health facilities, P25.39 billion for the National Health Workforce Support System and P3.75 billion for the Cancer Assistance Fund.

PhilHealth received a total of P129.8 billion in government funding in 2026, following an initial P53.13-billion subsidy that was supplemented by P60 billion in funding recovery support and an additional P16.52 billion from the bicameral conference committee.  –  Christine Boton