THE Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said it had released 91.7% of the 2026 national budget, as originally passed, by the end of September.

According to the DBM's Status of Allotment Releases report, the releases amounted to P6.231 trillion out of the original 2026 budget of P6.793 trillion, leaving P561.733 billion unreleased. The release rate at the end of last month was running behind the year-earlier pace of 93.15%. An allotment release gives agencies the authority to obligate funds, but it is distinct from actual spending, which the government tracks separately through obligation and disbursement reports.

Releases to government departments and agencies totaled P3.501 trillion by the end of September, equivalent to 95.3% of their allocations, compared with 96.3% a year earlier.

Special purpose funds — lump-sum allocations set aside for specific purposes rather than built directly into agency budgets — released by the end of the month stood at P571.225 billion, or 79.4% of the adjusted budget total, against 83.7% a year earlier.

Meanwhile, automatic appropriation releases hit 89.9%, or P2.159 trillion, compared with 90% a year earlier. Automatic appropriations are expenditures authorized by existing law that do not require periodic action by Congress. These include the National Tax Allotment — the share of national tax collections mandated for local government units — of P1.191 trillion, P712.5 billion in interest payments, P93.982 billion for the block grant to the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, P83.954 billion for retirement and life insurance premiums, and P42.23 billion for a special account in the general fund, among others.

The report also outlined other releases amounting to P301.522 billion, which included P109.545 billion in continuing appropriations from last year, P129.058 billion in unprogrammed appropriations, and P62.919 billion in other automatic appropriations. Continuing appropriations keep prior-year funds available for projects that extend beyond the original fiscal year, while unprogrammed appropriations can be availed of only when revenue collections exceed targets or when loans for specific projects are secured.

Including these other releases, total allotment releases reached P6.533 trillion, equivalent to 96.2% of the original budget. Whether the remaining P561.733 billion is released, and how much of the released allotments is ultimately spent, will be the figures to watch as the fiscal year winds down.

Government Watch Convenor-Director Joy G. Aceron said the release rate of more than 90% "does not mean the said budget releases have been utilized and certainly, it does not mean the funds have been used properly and have achieved their intended outcomes."\n"Budget release is only an intermediary goal that may not even mean anything, but instead, in the context of flood control plunder, could mean money lost to corruption and inefficiencies," she said via Facebook Messenger. Her remarks referred to the flood control corruption scandal that has placed government infrastructure spending under public scrutiny.

Ms. Aceron added that it is more important to examine whether the budget is being spent where it is needed, and whether it is being spent efficiently.

"If the utilization rate is seen separate from other budget performance indicators, there is a danger of bad governance being perpetuated with the budget as a tool," she said. — Justine Irish D. Tabile

Source: BusinessWorld