House budget talks start next week

MANILA, Philippines —  The House of Representatives under Speaker Faustino Dy III will soon start deliberations on the executive department’s proposed P7.2-trillion national budget for 2027. 

Rep. Mikaela Angela Suansing, chairperson of the House appropriations committee, told reporters on Tuesday that budget hearings in her committee will start on Aug. 17 and end Oct. 9 when Congress takes a month-long Undas break. 

Shortly after the Department of Budget and Management, led by Secretary Kim Robert de Leon, submitted the 2027 National Expenditure Program, Dy vowed that House officials will go over the proposed 2027 national budget with a fine-tooth comb. 

Dy said they will use the safeguards the chamber adopted in 2025 to prevent a repeat of alleged questionable insertions and purported leakages, where the creation of a small committee was dispensed with.  

“Last year, we began implementing reforms such as the Budget Amendments and Review Subcommittee, or BARSC, and introduced the live-streaming of our bicameral meetings,” the congressman from the 6th District of Isabela province said, referring to the House’s “open and transparent” hearings.  

The Speaker echoed President Marcos’ call against waste, improper spending and corruption, noting that every peso saved can be redirected toward classrooms, hospitals, food, jobs, agriculture and other services directly needed by Filipinos. 

Suansing, from Nueva Ecija, said once again, there will be a “people’s budget review” where non-government organizations and other concerned stakeholders meet lawmakers and raise questions about the budget process.   

Meanwhile, Rep. Migz Villafuerte of the 5th District of Camarines Sur called on his colleagues for the swift approval of the official digital budget or “CADENA portal,” which is crucial during this stage of the budget process, where proposed allocations of agencies will undergo scrutiny by legislators.  

CADENA stands for Citizen Access and Disclosure of Expenditures for National Accountability – a digital transparency platform designed to publish and track Philippine government budget transactions.