2026 budget signing delayed, set for Jan. 5 

Metro Manila, Philippines – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is set to sign the proposed ₱6.793-trillion 2026 national budget on Jan. 5, following delays attributed to transparency measures implemented in response to the flood control corruption scandal.

Executive Secretary Ralph Recto confirmed the Jan. 5 signing in a text message shared with reporters on Wednesday, Dec. 24. 

“Yes, first week of January,” Recto said. 

As the budget will not be enacted by yearend, the government will operate under the existing 2025 General Appropriations Act until a new spending plan is signed into law. This arrangement, known as a reenacted budget, means no new projects will be implemented during the interim period.

The 2026 budget is pending ratification by the Senate and the House of Representatives, which are expected to approve the bill during their extended sessions on December 29. Only after ratification will the measure be formally transmitted to Malacañang for the President’s signature.

Senate finance committee chairman Win Gatchalian in a statement acknowledged that the budget will be transmitted just two days before the New Year.

“[T]he Executive needs sufficient time to review the 4,000+ page enrolled copies of the budget,” he said. 

“The prudent course of action is to move the signing to January 5 to ensure that every provision is thoroughly reviewed,” he added. 

Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” Lacson, in a separate statement, supported the postponement.

“This is exactly what I said earlier – better a reenacted budget in January, or even in the first quarter of 2026, than rushing the passage of a national budget  that is not responsive to the call of the times, amidst the yet unresolved investigations on the misuse and abuse of the current and previous expenditure programs, particularly involving flood control projects,” Lacson said. 

Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III also saw no issue with operating under a reenacted budget for a few days. Earlier this week, he noted that Malacañang is likely to take more time reviewing the measure, making a reenacted budget probable until the first week of January.

Acting Communications Secretary Dave Gomez said on Tuesday that the President will spend the holidays thoroughly reviewing the 2026 national budget, with the aim of signing it by year-end to avoid a reenacted budget.

Delays in the budget process were largely attributed to extended bicameral conference committee meetings, where select members of the Senate and the House of Representatives reconciled differences between their respective versions of the budget bill.

For the first time, bicameral meetings were livestreamed following calls for increased transparency amid the flood control scandal. Several lawmakers are under investigation for allegedly inserting budget items behind closed doors to fund anomalous flood control projects with provisions for kickbacks.