Senator Panfilo Lacson on Thursday said that Congress cannot return the proposed 2026 National Expenditure Program (NEP) to Malacañang despite questions over irregular entries in the budget plan.
Lacson explained that the spending proposal is not an enrolled bill that can be vetoed or sent back, but he noted there is a mechanism for corrections.
“Congress cannot return the NEP to Malacañang since it is only a budget proposal, not an Enrolled Bill for approval or line-item veto by the President. However, the DPWH through the DBM may submit errata sheets but it is up to Congress to adopt such ‘errata’ or not,” he said.
The veteran lawmaker, known for scrutinizing public spending, made the recommendation after House leaders expressed interest in returning the document to the executive branch.
House Deputy Speaker Ronaldo Puno earlier said lawmakers may need to “practically redo” the proposal and wanted to avoid suspicion of irregular dealings.
Lacson maintained that the option of sending the budget back to the Palace is not available under the rules governing the appropriations process.
He argued that the submission of errata would allow corrections while keeping Congress within its constitutional mandate.
The issue arose after lawmakers flagged questionable entries in the proposed budget, which Lacson described as signs of collusion between the DPWH and some legislators.
Lacson said the President’s intervention was crucial in exposing questionable insertions that would otherwise have gone unchecked.
“Had PBBM (President Bongbong Marcos) not called out Congress after typhoons Crising, Dante and Emong caused a swath of destruction last August, the mangling of the national budget would have remained unabated,” he said.
