Gatchalian wants all budget documents made public online

Metro Manila, Philippines - Senator Win Gatchalian, the newly appointed chairman of the Committee on Finance, vowed that deliberations on the proposed ₱6.793 trillion national budget for 2026 will usher in a “golden age of transparency and accountability,” with every step of the process made public.

During the Kapihan sa Senado media forum on Monday, August 4, Gatchalian noted that in previous years, only the first and final versions of the budget—the National Expenditure Program from Malacañang and the General Appropriations Bill approved by the House of Representatives—were published online.

He lamented that the House would submit to the Senate several books containing the GAB.

“Walang soft copy… Ito yung binabasa ng team ng mga senador [No soft copy. This is what the senators’ teams read],” the senator said, referring to the voluminous printed budget books.

He said he will request the House of Representatives to publish the GAB on government websites so that the public and experts can easily track and compare changes made from the NEP.

Here’s a list of documents Gatchalian wants made publicly available online:

+ Funding requests submitted by agencies

+ The complete General Appropriations Bill approved by the House

+ The Senate committee report

+ The version approved by the Senate on third reading

+ The reconciled version by the House and Senate

In the bicameral conference committee stage, Gatchalian said he will not allow lawmakers to insert projects that were not included in either the House or Senate versions.

He emphasized that all items must have been approved in at least one of the two chambers before being included in the final budget.

He also proposes a mechanism for receiving and addressing public feedback.

“Ito yung sinasabi kong Golden Age of Transparency kasi step by the step masusundan na ngayon ng taumbayan from NEP to GAB to Senate third reading version to bicam hanggang mapirmahan ng presidente,” he said.

”Makikita na yung movement ng budget,” he added.

[Translation: This is what I call the golden age of transparency because step by step, the public will now be able to follow the process—from the NEP, to the GAB, to the Senate’s third reading version, to the bicam, until it’s signed by the President. People will be able to see how the budget moves.]

Gatchalian filed a concurrent resolution to formalize and implement the proposed reforms.

However, in response to criticisms about alleged budget insertions, Gatchalian admitted that tracking every amendment made by lawmakers remains a challenge.

“Nagbabago siya e, minsan nadadagdagan, minsan nababawasan, minsan nalilipat sa ibang ahensya. Minsan ‘yung prinopose niyang programa nalilipat sa ibang ahensya,” he said.

[Translation: It changes—sometimes items are added, sometimes reduced, sometimes transferred to another agency. In some cases, a proposed program gets moved to a different agency.]

Gatchalian said he has discussed his proposed reforms with Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero, who expressed support for the initiative. Majority Leader Joel Villanueva also backed the move, saying it is a step toward combating graft and corruption.