The Department of Budget and Management has released ₱6.39 trillion, or 94.1 percent, of the ₱6.793-trillion 2026 national budget as of end-August, leaving ₱401.38 billion still to disburse with four months left in the fiscal year. The pace is slightly slower than the 95.5-percent release rate the government hit at the same point in 2025, according to DBM figures reported by Philstar.com.
The aggregate number masks a wide spread between agencies. The Department of Public Works and Highways — the agency at the center of this year's flood-control kickback scandal — posted the best release rate among major departments at 99.5 percent of its ₱530.12-billion allocation. The Department of Education, the single largest recipient of the national budget, released 92.5 percent of its ₱961.14-billion allocation, itself a step down from 95.9 percent a year earlier. Government departments as a whole released ₱3.47 trillion, or 94.5 percent, of their combined ₱3.67-trillion programmed allocation.
The clearest laggard is the Department of Agriculture, which has released only 68.8 percent of its ₱163.26-billion 2026 allocation — a steep drop from the 96.7-percent release rate the department posted at the same point last year. DBM's report does not explain why agriculture spending fell so far behind, and no DA official is quoted in available reporting responding to the gap. The Department of Tourism also fell short of a 90-percent benchmark, releasing ₱4.05 billion, or 87.4 percent, of its adjusted ₱4.64-billion budget.
Special-purpose funds — the discretionary pool that includes contingency and calamity allocations — trailed furthest behind at 72.1 percent, with ₱518.52 billion released of a ₱719.07-billion budget. Automatic appropriations, which fund items such as debt service and local government shares, were 89.9-percent released at ₱2.16 trillion of ₱2.4 trillion. A separate ₱120.11 billion in unprogrammed appropriations for foreign-assisted projects has also been released, led by the Department of Transportation at ₱80.15 billion, DPWH at ₱25.55 billion, and the Department of Social Welfare and Development at ₱13.88 billion.
DBM acting Secretary Kim Robert de Leon tied the release figures to the government's proposed ₱74.45-billion 2027 budget for PhilHealth, which includes ₱19 billion earmarked for benefit improvements targeting mental health and malnutrition coverage. "Every peso we release for health must ultimately reach the patient," de Leon said, framing the release rate as part of a broader push to keep Filipinos from having to choose between healthcare and financial ruin. He did not address the agriculture department's underspending in the same statement.
Context
Budget release rates have drawn heightened scrutiny in 2026 after the flood-control kickback scandal exposed how funds tagged for infrastructure and disaster mitigation were diverted through ghost or substandard projects — making DPWH's near-total 99.5-percent release rate this year a number worth watching rather than an unambiguous sign of good governance, given that agency's role in the scandal. The Department of Agriculture's underspending also lands as unemployment sits near a four-year high and Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan has separately flagged slow growth as a structural problem tied to governance quality, as Pulpulitiko reported on September 12.
Sources
- DBM: 94.1% of 2026 budget released — Philstar.com, Aubrey Rose Inosante