MANILA — Davao City 3rd District Representative Isidro Ungab has questioned the “unprecedented” and possibly unconstitutional changes made by the bicameral conference committee to the 2025 national budget’s automatic appropriations.

Ungab, a veteran legislator who has previously chaired both the House Committees on Appropriations and Ways and Means, israising concerns over how the bicameral conference committee handled allocations under two key funding mechanisms: the Special Accounts in the General Fund (SAGF) and the Use of Income in the General Fund (UIGF).

Both are funded by earmarked revenues and classified under automatic appropriations.

“In my 15 years in Congress, this is the first time I’ve seen items under automatic appropriations amended by a bicameral conference committee,” Ungab said.

“These changes raise serious constitutional issues and could affect how the government functions and delivers services to the Filipino people.”

Unlike funds in the annually passed General Appropriations Act, automatic appropriations are provided by existing laws and do not need to be approved every year by Congress.

This gives them a protected status, making the committee’s amendments to SAGF and UIGF potentially problematic from a legal and procedural standpoint.

Ungab is set to deliver a privilege speech on the issue. He will outline the following:


Specific changes made to SAGF and UIGF allocations
Legal and constitutional issues involved
Possible effects on key government services
Legislative recommendations to correct the issue