Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman on Tuesday emphasized the national government’s push for greater transparency and public involvement in the budget process, particularly from the youth, as the 2026 national budget nears submission to Congress.
Speaking at the post-State of the Nation Address conference in San Juan City, Pangandaman said the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) is committed to keeping the entire budget process open to the public from start to finish.
“What we would like is for our countrymen, especially our youth, to participate so that they know how to make a budget and how it will be completed,” Pangandaman said.
“We started this (by) being open to the people. Until it is completed, it will be open to the people,” she added.
Pangandaman said DBM is currently finalizing the physical printing of the proposed 2026 National Expenditure Program (NEP).
According to Pangandaman, the document will be turned over to the House of Representatives and Senate within the next two weeks. She emphasized that public needs remain at the center of budget decisions.
She assured the public that the DBM would prioritize the actual needs of Filipinos when allocating funds.
“What our people need, we will listen to, we will invest in,” she said.
“We will make sure that what our budget provides reaches the people faster,” she added,
Pangandaman also pledged that the DBM would uphold a higher standard of accountability and openness throughout the budget process.
“We will be more transparent and we will be more accountable to our countrymen,” she said.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., in his State of the Nation Address, reiterated the importance of aligning the 2026 budget with the administration’s priorities, warning he would reject any version not consistent with the government’s National Expenditure Program.
