Parliament Bill No. 476
In committeeAn Act Amending Section 53 of Bangsamoro Autonomy Act (BAA) No. 65, Otherwise Known as the FY 2025 General Appropriations Act of the Bangsamoro, to Extend the Validity of FY 2025 Infrastructure Appropriations and to Allow the Payment of Validly Incurred Obligations
Filed
First Reading
Referred to the Committee on Finance, Budget and ManagementNow
Under committee study or floor debate. Amendments are still possible, and this is the stage where public input carries the most weight.
What this measure does
It amends Section 53 of BAA 65, the FY 2025 General Appropriations Act of the Bangsamoro, so that money already obligated for infrastructure projects does not revert to the Bangsamoro Treasury when the act's validity period ends. The unpaid part of an infrastructure obligation validly incurred within that period — including final billings, retention money and other lawful payments — stays available until it is fully paid. A second proviso limits this to obligations incurred within the validity period; it allows no new obligations afterwards. The bill has 3 sections and its operative text runs to 2 pages.
It was filed on 5 October 2026 by MP Baintan A. Ampatuan with MPs Sittie Fahanie S. Uy-Oyod, Khalid M. Hadji Abdullah and Jose I. Lorena, read on first reading the same day, and referred to the Committee on Finance, Budget and Management on 6 October 2026.
Why it was proposed
The explanatory note cites the Ministry of Public Works' Summary of Unpaid Obligations for FY 2025 Appropriations, as of 25 September 2026. Of ₱10.844 billion in FY 2025 infrastructure appropriations, ₱10.773 billion was allotted and ₱9.327 billion obligated, but only ₱3.532 billion disbursed, leaving ₱5.795 billion in unpaid obligations: ₱5.447 billion of regular infrastructure, ₱210.719 million from the Transitional Development Impact Fund and ₱137.103 million from the Supplemental Fund. The regular infrastructure share is spread across the regional office (₱868.834 million) and 9 district engineering offices, from ₱217.512 million in Sulu First to ₱712.545 million in Lanao First.
The note argues that work may be finished while payment waits on inspection, acceptance and final billing, and that reversion would force a fresh reappropriation before contractors can be paid. It adds that other ministries' infrastructure projects, not counted in these figures, face the same rule.
Who it affects
- Contractors and suppliers owed money on FY 2025 infrastructure projects.
- The Ministry of Public Works, its regional office and its 9 district engineering offices.
- Other ministries with FY 2025 infrastructure obligations, which the note says are also affected.
- Communities waiting on roads, bridges, schools, health facilities and water systems funded in 2025.
Who would implement it
- Ministry of Finance, and Budget and Management, which issues guidelines for the cash budgeting system
- Ministries, offices and agencies holding FY 2025 infrastructure obligations
Funding
No appropriation. The bill appropriates nothing new. It keeps already-obligated FY 2025 infrastructure appropriations available for payment, which the explanatory note puts at ₱5.795 billion unpaid for the Ministry of Public Works alone.
What changes if it becomes law
- The bill has been referred to the Committee on Finance, Budget and Management. Nothing has changed yet.
- If enacted, unpaid FY 2025 infrastructure obligations would no longer revert to the Treasury at the end of the validity period, and could be paid until settled.
- No new projects or obligations could be funded under the extension.
Raised during deliberations
No published record of the debate on this measure. Parliament’s journals cover sittings up to March 2023 only, and no committee report on it has been published.
What to notice
The bill says it only adds a paragraph to Section 53, but the section it restates does more. BAA 65 as enacted keeps its appropriations available until 31 December 2026; the bill's restated text says 31 December 2027. Read as written, that would extend every FY 2025 appropriation by a year, not only infrastructure obligations, and nothing in the explanatory note mentions it. The note itself gives the validity date as 31 December 2026.
The figures in the note are internally consistent: the 10 office amounts add up to ₱5.447 billion, and the 3 funds to ₱5.795 billion. The copy names 21 co-authors; Parliament's index credits 23, adding MPs Rasul E. Ismael and Zulfikar-Ali S. Bayam. It was filed, read on first reading and referred to committee within 2 days, nearly 3 months before the validity period it addresses ends.
Sources