Davao City 3rd District Representative Isidro T. Ungab delivered a scathing criticism against the defunding of Foreign-Assisted Projects (FAPs) in the 2024 and 2025 national budgets, calling it “fiscal sabotage” and a source of “international shame.”
Speaking during plenary deliberations with the Development Budget Coordinating Committee (DBCC), Ungab denounced what he described as the “reckless and indefensible” removal of billions in programmed appropriations for FAPs, which were instead transferred to the Unprogrammed Fund despite existing loan agreements authorized by the President.
“These budgets are perhaps the most distorted and compromised financial plans ever passed by Congress. We negotiated loans, signed agreements, paid commitment fees—and yet, when the appropriations bill was signed into law, billions in project funding had mysteriously vanished. This is fiscal sabotage, plain and simple,” Ungab said.
Ungab pointed out that in 2024, of the P246 billion requested for FAPs, only P4 billion was approved, effectively scrapping 98.4% of projects.
He added that the 2025 budget suffered the same fate, with P150 billion unfunded out of a P215.6 billion request.
He also mentioned that key agencies, including the Departments of Agrarian Reform (DAR), Agriculture (DA), Department of Health (DOH), Department of Education (DepEd), and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), received nothing for their international development programs in 2024.
“These are not luxuries, these are railways, flood control systems, and agricultural programs. What kind of Congress asks the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Asian Development Bank (ADB), or the World Bank for support, then turns around and says, ‘Sorry, we moved it to Unprogrammed’? This is fiscal recklessness of the highest order,” he said.
Ungab warned that defunding Foreign-Assisted Projects could lead to credit downgrades, higher fees, project delays, and loss of credibility with international lenders, calling the budget process a “national embarrassment.”
He also demanded accountability from the Bicameral Conference Committee and pressed for three actions: an explanation to lenders, disclosure if Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) tackled the issue, and a commitment to stop moving FAPs to unprogrammed funds.
“The time for excuses is over, this betrayal of our national interest must be corrected, perpetrators must be held accountable, and systemic reforms must be put in place. Otherwise, we will continue to lose billions, damage our international reputation, and deprive our people of the development they desperately need,” he said.
