Palace to Congress: Don’t abuse power of the purse
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will veto any budget insertions or changes that are “useless and could only lead to abuse,” the Palace on Friday said.
Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said Congress should not abuse its so-called power of the purse, adding that the President is open to proposals to make the bicameral budget deliberations open to the public to ensure that the spending plan is “clean.”
Castro noted the National Expenditure Program (NEP) was carefully prepared and crafted by Marcos and his Cabinet.
Her remarks came after Senate President Francis Escudero said Congress, which holds the constitutional “power of the purse,” has the authority to revise the proposed budget, and that agency heads themselves often seek realignments during congressional deliberations.
But Castro countered that while Congress has budgetary authority, the executive branch is concerned about potential abuses in the form of unnecessary insertions or reallocations with no clear public benefit.
“The so-called power of the purse should not be abused and there should be no many insertions that will not be truly useful. That is all the President wants,” she said.
“If these insertions can be said to be meaningful, they probably won’t be vetoed, but if they are useless and could only lead to abuse, the President will not hesitate to veto them,” she added.
Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman on Tuesday warned of possible delays in the implementation of programs, activities and projects if there would be changes in the 2026 NEP.
Mr. Marcos, in his fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday, said he would veto the 2026 General Appropriations Bill if it is not aligned with the NEP.
The NEP is the national government’s spending plan for the next fiscal year and serves as the basis of Congress in crafting the GAB, which then becomes the General Appropriations Act once signed into law by the President.
Mr. Marcos on July 15 approved the proposed P6.793-trillion budget for 2026, the country’s highest to date, which is expected to support key programs in education, infrastructure, digitalization, health, and social services.
Castro added the President wants the bicameral conference committee meetings on the 2026 budget to be open to the public to ensure transparency in the process.
Speaker Martin Romualdez earlier said the House will open to civil society observers and watchdogs the traditionally closed bicameral conference committee – a historic reform that would usher in a new era of transparency and public accountability in government budgeting.
“Transparency is not just a value; it is a weapon against corruption. This reform will not only earn public trust but will also strengthen inclusive and participatory governance,” Romualdez said.
At the Senate, the minority bloc likewise filed a joint resolution calling for full transparency and accountability in the proceedings of the bicameral conference committee, particularly during the passage of national budget laws.
The bloc said, “the most serious irregularity” in the 2025 budget “was the violation of the constitutionally mandated provision that education shall have the highest budgetary priority.”
