House adopts resolution for open, transparent bicam

MANILA, Philippines —  The House of Representatives adopted a resolution Wednesday night allowing open bicameral conference committee deliberations with the Senate on the proposed 2026 national budget. 

According to House Concurrent Resolution 8, “allegations of irregularities” in the 2025 national budget prompted House leaders to adopt a new policy, to “further strengthen adherence to the constitutional precepts of accountability and transparency in public governance.”  

Among the signatories were House officials led by Speaker Faustino Dy III, majority leader Sandro Marcos, minority leader Marcelino Libanan and appropriations committee chair Mikaela Angela Suansing.

“All committee deliberations on the GAB (general appropriations bill) shall be open to the public, conducted in person or through digital livestreaming. The conference committee on the GAB shall present the reconciled amounts as agreed upon by the members. This will be made available to the public,” a portion of the document read.  

House bicam contingent 

In a related development, House leadership also elected on Wednesday night its 12-person contingent in the bicameral conference committee.

Led by Suansing, the contingent also includes Libanan, deputy speaker Kristine Singson-Meehan (Ilocos Sur), and Reps. Albert Garcia (Bataan), Jose Alvarez (Palawan), Maria Carmen Zamora (Davao de Oro), Romeo Momo (Surigao del Sur), Rufus Rodriguez (Cagayan de Oro), Jurdin Jesus Romualdo (Camiguin), Brian Raymund Yamsuan (Parañaque), Javier Miguel Benitez (Negros Occidental) and Allan Ty (LPGMA party-list). 

Meanwhile, ML party-list Rep. Leila de Lima thanked the House leadership for “heeding the people’s call and adopting House Concurrent Resolution 8 to implement an open and transparent bicam.”

“This is a crucial step toward a more transparent national budget, as the public will now have access to the bicam proceedings as (it) would deter a repetition of irregularities that marred the bicam deliberations relative to the 2025 GAB,” the deputy minority leader remarked.

For appropriations committee vice-chair Zia Alonto Adiong, the House’s decision for an open bicam is part of a broader transparency effort developing since the start of the 20th Congress.

“These improvements are not merely procedural… they reinforce a culture of openness and help ensure that citizens can clearly see how national resources are allocated and used,” he said.

 For the longest time, the bicam has always been closed door. 

Revised timeline

Meanwhile, the Senate and House of Representatives agreed to push back its timeline for the bicameral conference committee hearing and start the reconciliatory talks about the proposed 2026 national budget to tomorrow instead of today.

The original schedule was for bicam to start today and continue over the weekend at the Philippine International Convention Center.

Senate finance committee chair Sherwin Gatchalian said the change in schedule would allow an additional day for technical staff to come up with a matrix of conflicting provisions and amounts subject for reconciling during bicam.

Senate President Vicente Sotto III vowed full transparency in the bicam, the penultimate stage in the budget process marred with lawmakers’ budget insertions done behind closed doors to fund pet projects, often a source of corruption.

“We are making sure all details are exhibited and exposed for transparency so the House of Representatives can examine our version and for us to examine theirs. This includes all annexes,” Sotto said.

“We will never allow anything that happened last year to happen again,” Sotto added of the budget insertions done during the bicam for the 2025 national budget, dubbed the country’s most corrupt outlay. – Marc Jayson Cayabyab, Jose Rodel Clapano