Court of Appeals gets biggest budget among all collegiate lower courts

MANILA, Philippines — The Court of Appeals (CA) is set to receive the largest total budget for fiscal year 2026, figures from the 2026 National Expenditure Program (NEP) released on Thursday, August 14, showed.

According to the NEP, the total budget for the appellate court is P5,788,291,000, surpassing other collegiate courts such as the Court of Tax Appeals and the Sandiganbayan.

The total 2026 budget for the CA reflects an increase from its total 2025 budget of P5,214,518,000 and the P4,395,637,000 budget in 2024.

It is also higher than the P5,089,249,000 allocated by Congress to the appellate court.

In the total 2026 budget, the CA's largest allocation is for “general administration and support,” amounting to P4,024,958,000. This is followed by P1,621,133,000 for “operations,” specifically the “appellate adjudication program.”

Following the CA, the Sandiganbayan has a total 2026 budget of P2,377,747,000, a slight increase from its P2,377,439,000 proposal for 2025, but a decrease from the P2,700,960,000 allocated in 2024.

Meanwhile, the Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) has the lowest total budget among the three collegiate courts, at P1,046,936,000 for 2026. This represents a modest increase from its total 2025 budget of P1,019,414,000, which had decreased from P1,067,384,000 in 2024.