Speaker Martin Romualdez on Wednesday said the House of Representatives would implement at least five reforms in the enactment of next year’s annual budget and its execution.
He made the revelation during the turnover of the National Expenditure Program (NEP), the P6.79-trillion 2026 budget proposal of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., by Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Amenah Pangandaman.
“A budget is not just a spending plan—it is a mirror of our priorities and a measure of our accountability to the people. And because this is the people’s money, the process of crafting it must be transparent, inclusive, and worthy of public trust,” Romualdez told his colleagues and DBM officials.
“That is why, beginning this year, the House will implement important reforms,” he added.
The House leader said the chamber would first remove the “small committee” it formed in the past after approving the budget to collate institutional amendments.
The second reform would be the opening of the House-Senate conference to reconcile their versions of the budget to the public and the media.
Third, the House will invite civil society, people’s organizations, and the private sector to join budget hearings.
The fourth would be the strengthening of the House oversight function in the execution of the budget. This would require timely reports from agencies and real-time tracking of major projects.
Finally, the fifth entails the House prioritizing investments that “truly change lives”: agriculture for food security, infrastructure for connectivity and jobs, education for opportunity, health for all, and defense and disaster preparedness for national safety.
“In the coming weeks, we will review every page of this NEP guided by one question: ‘Will it be good for our countrymen?’ If yes, we will support it. If not, we will work to make it better. A budget the people can trust is a government the people can believe in,” Romualdez said.
