NEARLY P25 billion in excise taxes have initially been allocated in the 2026 budget to support the effort to achieve the Philippines’ sustainable development goals (SDGs), the Department of Economy, Planning, and Development (DEPDev) said.
“Ideally, earmarked funds for 2026 will be around P24.8 billion,” DEPDev Director Reverie Pure G. Sapaen said at a House briefing on Wednesday.
Republic Act 11467 requires that excise taxes generated by alcohol, heated, tobacco, and vapor products fund the SDG effort.
The allocation will be carved out from the expected P359.65 billion raised from excise taxes in 2026, which would be 9.35% higher than this year’s total, according to the Budget of Expenditures and Sources of Financing.
“There were about 42 projects that DEPDev endorsed to (the Department of Budget and Management) for proposals under the Program Convergence Budgeting on the SDGs, and the total of those 42 proposals is about P5.2 billion,” Ms. Sapaen said.
The P5.26 billion will mostly go to social priority programs and projects (PAPs) estimated to cost P2.63 billion, followed by environment (P1.55 billion), economic (P863 million) and peace, security, and governance (P179.40 million) projects.
The total cost of PAPs included in the National Expenditure Program amounted to P917.37 million, the DEPDev said.
Ms. Sapaen did not explain what the rest of the P24.8 billion will be spent on.
The Philippines remains behind the pace in achieving the 17 SDG targets by 2030.
“Based on our pace of progress, we surpassed our targets for SDGs 12 and 14. We are regressing for SDGs 3, 11, and 13,” Mr. Sapaen said.
SDGs 3 deals with good health and well-being, 11 sustainable cities and communities, and 13 climate action. SDG 12 concerns responsible consumption and production and 14 life below water. The rest need accelerated efforts to meet the 2030 target.
In 2023, the Philippines fell three spots in the global SDG achievement ranking to 98th out of 166 countries.
Ms. Sapaen said one of the biggest challenges in climate action is the fragmentation of and siloed approaches to disaster risk reduction efforts.
“As UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) mentioned earlier, at the current pace of progress, at the current state that we are in, it will take about 32 years,” she said.
“That’s why it’s important to recalibrate our strategies, revisit our initiatives, and really accelerate our action so that we can meet our 2030 targets.” — Aubrey Rose A. Inosante