The government is ready to answer queries on the unprogrammed funds in the PHP5.768-trillion national budget for 2024, Malacañang said on Tuesday.

This, after Reps. Edcel Lagman (Albay 1st District), Gabriel Bordado (Camarines Sur 3rd District), and Mujiv Hataman (Basilan) filed before the Supreme Court (SC) a petition questioning the constitutionality of PHP449.5 billion worth of unprogrammed funds in the 2024 General Appropriations Act (GAA).

Communications Secretary Cheloy Garafil said the Executive Branch would make a comment on the petition filed by the House minority lawmakers, if the SC asks for it.

“The Executive Department will answer accordingly if required by the Supreme Court,” Garafil said in a statement sent to Palace reporters.

In their petition, Lagman, Bordado and Hataman asked the SC to issue a temporary restraining order or writ of preliminary injunction to prevent the release of the unprogrammed funds included in the 2024 national budget.

They said the “unconstitutional act” to insert the PHP449.5 billion on top of the PHP289.1 billion originally requested by the Executive Branch is “tainted with grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of congressional jurisdiction.”

The Congress raised the unprogrammed appropriations under the 2024 GAA from the proposed to PHP281.9 billion to PHP731.5 billion after the bicameral conference.

Earlier this month, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said the unprogrammed funds are merely “standby appropriations outside the approved government fiscal government.”

The unprogrammed funds, the DBM said, serve as “an important tool for the government to address unforeseen expenditures and prioritize essential programs and projects.” (PNA)