A legislator has assured the public that various safeguards in the special provisions of the proposed P6.793 trillion General Appropriations Act (GAA) for 2026 ensure that government programs are insulated from politics and directly benefit the people.
Parañaque Second District Representative Brian Raymund Yamsuan said the technical staff of the Senate and the House of Representatives are now working double time to finetune the final version of the reconciled budget bill and its accompanying special provisions that were approved by the Bicameral Conference Committee (Bicam) during its deliberations held from Dec. 13 to 17, 2025.
The substantial increases approved by the Bicam in the funds for the education sector, which amounted to P1.38 trillion, and the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (Philhealth), which totaled almost P130 billion, were among the notable developments he pointed out.
“Ang mahalaga dito ay ma-execute nang maayos ang mga programa at proyekto na inaprubahan ng Bicam para ito ay maramdaman talaga ng ating mga kababayan,” Yamsuan said in a statement on Monday.
“(What is important is that these programs and projects approved by the Bicam are executed properly so that these would be truly felt by the people.)
“Katuwang kami ng Executive Department to ensure na lahat ng programs and projects ng gobyerno ay mararamdaman ng ating mga kababayan,” added Yamsuan, a member of the House of Representatives contingent to the conference committee.
(We are a key partner of the Executive Department to ensure that all programs and projects of the government are truly felt by the people.)
Under the Bicam-approved budget, the Department of Education (DepEd) and its attached agencies would get P961.3 billion, up by P86.7 billion from the amount proposed under Malacañang’s National Expenditure Program (NEP).
State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) will receive P138 billion, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), P47 billion, and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), P26 billion.
The remaining amount will go to other education-related programs.
Philhealth’s allocation increased from the original NEP level of P53.2 billion to P129.7 billion after the House of Representatives added P60 billion, and another P16.52 billion was included from the savings generated by the modifications in the budget for the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
The recomputation of the DPWH budget stemmed from the adjusted Construction Materials Price Data (CMPD) for 10,000 projects, which generated savings of P20.7 billion.
After P16.5 billion was given to Philhealth, the remaining P4.25 billion went to the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Fund (NDRRMF) to provide additional aid to calamity victims.
Moreover, the budget for the operation of Department of Health (DOH)-run hospitals increased from the NEP level of P26.4 billion to P29.9 billion; for DOH regional hospitals from P95.2 billion to P101.7 billion; and the Health Facilities Enhancement Program (HFEP), from P14.5 billion to P26.2 billion.
