The Senate yesterday approved the P6.793 trillion 2026 national budget on third reading, setting the stage for the first livestreamed bicameral meeting on Thursday.
Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri said the Upper Chamber would go on “extended sessions” until December 23 to ensure the national budget is passed and to avoid a re-enacted budget next year.
He said the Senate, which was originally scheduled to adjourn its sessions on December 19, hopes to ratify the General Appropriations Act on the week of December 22.
“It’s a very simple amendment to our legislative calendar…For the nation, so we can pass the national budget,” Zubiri said.
Senate Finance committee head Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said the proposed GAA may be sent to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for signing by Dec. 29, 2025.
Gatchalian described the measure as “people-centered” and focused on transparency and accountability, with the education sector having the lion’s share at P1.37 trillion, equal to about 4.5 percent of the country’s gross domestic product.
Disaster response got a boost with P15.33 billion for the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund to hasten recovery, provide temporary shelters, and keep essential services running in calamity-prone areas.
Amid the controversies over ghost and substandard flood control projects, the Senate slashed the Department of Public Works and Highways’ budget by P54.2 billion following the President’s directive to cut construction material costs.
Senate President Vicente Sotto III reiterated the position of the Upper Chamber to have the bicameral budget deliberations livestreamed.
“It’s open to the public. It’s important to let the public see who made the budget proposal, who were the lawmakers involved and what is the budget for the three most important agencies – Department of Education, Department of Health, and Department of Agriculture,” Sotto said.
The House of Representatives also reiterated its commitment to livestream the bicameral conference committee deliberations, a transparency measure backed by President Marcos.
House Committee on Appropriations chairperson Rep. Mikaela Angela Suansing said the public deserves a clear and accurate understanding of where the House stands in the ongoing budget process.
“The House has always been very firm in our commitment to opening the bicameral conference committee proceedings, more specifically livestreaming the bicam,” Suansing said.
