Senate, House to sign bicam report on budget today

MANILA, Philippines — Senators and congressmen are expected to sign today the bicameral conference committee report on the approved national budget for 2026, with the proposed spending bill to be ratified after Christmas and signed into law by President Marcos before the end of the year.

Meanwhile, Senate finance committee chair Sherwin Gatchalian and his House counterpart, appropriations chair Mikaela Suansing believe Marcos won’t veto the proposed 2026 budget.

Medical organizations and budget watchdogs are urging Marcos to veto “soft pork barrel” allocations for aid programs that call for endorsements by politicians, which the bicam doubled or tripled from what was proposed by the executive.

Among these are the Medical Assistance for Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients. Medical groups want MAIFIP funds transferred to the Philippine Health Insurance Corp.

Budget watchdogs also say that billions for AICS or the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations can be transferred to the conditional cash transfer Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program or 4Ps, wherein cash payouts are withdrawn from ATMs.

“I am confident that nothing will be vetoed in this budget because first of all, this was coordinated. That was one of the things we made sure, that we coordinated with the executive (branch),” Gatchalian yesterday told radio dzBB.

The Senate and the House of Representatives contingents are to resume sessions today after previously being in a deadlock over the 2026 budget of the Department of Public Works and Highways.

Gatchalian said both chambers are scheduled to ratify the bicam report on Dec. 28, after which it will be finalized for transmittal to Malacañang.

The General Appropriations Bill has to be printed and submitted to President Marcos for signing.

Suansing said Marcos would likely sign the 2026 budget on Dec. 29.

‘No reenacted budget for 2026’

Following the bicam’s approval of the proposed 2026 national budget last week, fears of a reenacted budget for next year have been put to rest.

“We can now confidently say, now that the bicam is done, that there will be no reenacted budget,” Suansing told reporters in a chance interview.

Suansing rejected suggestions that the outcome of the bicam reflected concessions between the House and the Senate, stressing that discussions focused on producing a credible and accountable national budget.

“I wouldn’t say it’s a House concession. We’ve been working together very hard over the past few days to get to a budget that both Houses will be proud of,” she said. “So again, we want to make sure that we have a budget that the Filipino people can trust.”

Modern methods

Meanwhile, Gatchalian noted the need to modernize the budget process, saying Congress is looking at using new technologies to speed up the drafting of the budget and improve transparency.

“I was thinking that in the future, let’s use modern technology so that the budget process will be faster, more transparent and will not take a week,” he said.

To ensure transparency and accountability in the implementation of the 2026 budget, Gatchalian also bared plans to activate the Joint Congressional Oversight Committee on Public Expenditures, which he described as a “very powerful committee” that has not been convened for years.

He said the panel is expected to conduct regular oversight of key government programs beyond the budget season, focusing not only on how funds are allocated but also on whether they are spent properly or at all.

Thwarted insertions

Gatchalian said several politicians and government agencies attempted to seek last-minute project insertions while the 2026 national budget was already being finalized in the bicam, but stressed that none of the requests were granted.

“I don’t want to name names, but there were (attempts). I received text messages,” he said.

The senator said the requests covered various projects, including school buildings and the expansion of local colleges, which he described as legitimate.

However, he stressed that such proposals must be coursed through the proper agencies and regional development councils.

“We can no longer do those in the bicam,” he emphasized.

Meanwhile, the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) yesterday said the government should include a budgetary allocation for Collective Negotiation Agreement (CNA) incentives in the national budget for teachers and not rely on “savings-only” as source for year-end bonuses.

In a statement, ACT said the government should stop holding the teachers’ incentives as hostage and dependent on the savings of the Department of Education. — Neil Jayson Servallos, Evelyn Macairan