House begins scrutiny of P6.7-trillion 2026 nat’l budget

Metro Manila, Philippines - The House of Representatives began scrutinizing the proposed P6.7-trillion 2026 national budget on Monday, Aug. 18.

The House appropriations committee kicked off its discussion with the spending plan laid out by the Development Budget Coordination Committee, which consists of the Department of Budget and Management; Department of Economy, Planning and Development; Department of Finance; and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

Committee chairperson Rep. Mika Suansing (1st District, Nueva Ecija) assured participants in the briefing that the budget centers on the Filipino people.

“Mararamdaman at makikita po ninyo ito: mas maginhawang pagpapagamot, mas dekalidad na edukasyon at mga classroom, mas maraming dekalidad na mga trabaho, at mas magandang mga kalsada para sa mga magsasaka,” she said.

[Translation: You will see and feel these: better health care, more quality education and classrooms, more quality jobs, and better roads for our farmers.]

‘Measly’ Visayas, Mindanao share

Cagayan de Oro City 2nd District Rep. Rufus Rodriguez questioned what he called "measly" allocation for the Visayas and Mindanao.

Of the total amount, 24.4 percent is for Luzon excluding Metro Manila, which has 13.3 percent; 11.1 percent for the Visayas; and 15.4 percent for Mindanao.

“Why will the central office reserve 10 percent? This will be the pork barrel of the Cabinet members. It should be pushed already to the regions,” he said.

Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman explained: “Some of the projects and programs of the 2026 budget are lodged under the nationwide and central office of each of the departments.”

Small committee report

Meanwhile, Navotas Rep. Toby Tiangco asked the panel for a copy of the small committee report on the current budget.

He said two congressional districts had a huge increase in their budgets.

“Ang NEP (National Expenditure Program) nila, P2.530 billion, and then ‘pag dating sa GAA (General Appropriations Act) naging P20.999 billion. Isa pa, P1.508583 billion sa NEP, ‘pag dating sa GAA, P20.795 billion. Ang pinasok lang sa bicam dito is P5 billion and P4 billion each. Ang napasok du’n sa small committee is P13 billion, dun sa isa; ‘yung isa P14 billion,” Tiangco raised.

[Translation: One district’s NEP is P2.530 billion, but in the GAA, it became P20.999 billion. Another district’s NEP is P1.508583 billion, but it became P20.795 billion in the GAA. During the bicameral conference committee, only P5 billion and P4 billion were added. The small committee inserted P13 billion for one district and P14 billion to the other district.]

He questioned the proponent of the amendments.

Suansing replied: “The small committee is subsumed within the committee on appropriations and it is the committee on appropriations who’s required to submit the committee report. In this case, the report and the output of the committee on appropriations is the HGAB (House General Appropriations Bill).”

Tiangco, however, insisted that there should be a separate report for each committee.

The panel was unable to provide a copy of the committee report when Tiangco’s turn to inquire ended.

Transparency

Speaker Martin Romualdez reiterated the chamber’s pledge to observe transparency throughout the budget process.

“We welcomed civil society observers. Because the Filipino people deserve full transparency in how their hard-earned money is planned, allocated, and spent. Kapag malinaw ang proseso, malinaw din ang tiwala; at kapag may tiwala ang taumbayan, may lakas ang pamahalaan,” he said.

[Translation: When the process is clear, the trust is also clear; and when the public has trust, the government has strength.]

“Transparency is not an option - it is the cornerstone of democratic governance,” the House leader added.

The House earlier adopted a resolution opening the budget debates to genuine people’s organizations as official non-voting observers.

However, Akbayan party-list Rep. Perci Cendana expressed concern on the civil society organizations’ participation in the process.

“Bench warmer lang po ba sila na i-a-acknowledge natin sa simula ta’s ‘di naman makaka-participate meaningfully?” he said.

[Translation: Are they just bench warmers whom we will acknowledge at the start but they would not be able to participate meaningfully?]

The House will also abolish the small committee, which gathers institutional amendments to the budget bill and discusses it privately.

The proposed P6.7-trillion budget for next year is 22 percent of the country’s gross domestic product and is 7.4 percent higher than this year’s fund.