Lawmakers agree to livestream budget bicam deliberations

MANILA, Philippines —  Lawmakers have agreed to livestream the bicameral conference committee deliberations on the 2026 national budget to ensure transparency, President Marcos said yesterday, as the government grapples with a controversy sparked by questionable public works projects.

Marcos said the airing of the budget hearings – the first time the deliberations will be broadcast in real time – would make it easier for the public to identify who are behind questionable insertions, if any.

“To further encourage transparency, I intend to livestream the bicam. So that’s what I told them already,” the President said after the oath-taking of officers of the Malacañang Press Corps and other media groups covering the presidency.

“I have the agreement of the Senate President and the Speaker that we will do it that way. We will livestream the entire process so that if there are questionable, shall we say, insertions or additions or all that, it will also be clear who moved – who made those changes or who proposed those changes so that people will know,” he added.

Marcos said the small committee meetings usually held while the bicam deliberations are suspended would no longer take place.

“So, that is what we have instituted, some new procedures. But you know, the bicam is actually a public hearing. But that is not followed... because there is a small committee,” the Chief Executive said.

“So now, it will all be all out in the open.”

The budget department expressed support for the unprecedented  livestreaming of the budget bicam hearings.

“As far as we know, this is the first time in history. Because usually, bicam proceedings are held by Congress closed-door. The executive is not part of it,” Budget Undersecretary Goddes Hope Libiran said in a text message.

Marcos had vetoed P194 billion worth of items in the 2025 national budget, saying they are not consistent with the administration’s programmed priorities.

A total of 15 unprogrammed appropriations and more than 170 public works projects were removed from this year’s P6.326-trillion budget.

During his fourth State of the Nation Address last July, Marcos said he would reject a budget bill that is not fully aligned with the government’s spending program even if it means reenacting last year’s outlay.

If a new budget is not passed, the previous outlay would be reenacted, a scenario that can hamper vital programs and stall economic growth.

The Marcos administration is seeking a P6.793-trillion national budget for 2026.

At the same press briefing, Marcos expressed optimism that he would not need to veto the 2026 budget, saying the spending bill passed by the House of Representatives does not contain items that deviate from the government’s development plan.

“I am hoping and I am very confident that that’s not going to be necessary simply because that we have been involved – I have been involved in – as you can imagine, I have been involved in detail on the preparation, especially in the House of the budget,” he said.

“And that as far as we have been able to examine, there are no projects that are listed there, there are no items that are listed there that are outside of the socio-economic development plan of the Philippines and all the plans derived from that... All of these are all part of the general plan.”

However, Marcos pointed out that the legislative process involving the national budget is not yet finished, noting that the spending bill still has to be approved by the Senate and the bicam.

“We will make sure that the same process will be followed, that everything should be under the plan coming from the national government,” he said.

The House of Representatives, a chamber dominated by administration allies, passed its version of the national budget on final reading last Monday.

Release P11.7 billion for CHED

For his part, Assistant Mi nority Leader and BH party list Rep. Robert Nazal urged the Department of Budget and Management to release the P11.7-billion allocation of the Higher Education Develop ment Fund to the Commission on Higher Education’s 2026 budget.

Around P206.3 billion from the 2025 national budget remains unreleased as of this year, with government agencies intensifying the rollout of programs in a bid to maximize spending before the year draws to a close.

Latest DBM data showed that it has released a total of P6.12 trillion as of the end of September, representing 96.7 percent of the total P6.326-trillion budget allocation for this year.

However, the budget released so far is lower than last year, when the government had already completed its full 100 percent disbursement by September 2024. - Delon Porcalla, Marco Luis Beech