Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson said a brief reenactment of the 2025 national budget would be preferable to rushing the approval of a 2026 spending measure that may be unresponsive to current needs or vulnerable to corruption.
Lacson made the statement after Executive Secretary Ralph Recto announced that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is expected to sign the proposed P6.793 trillion 2026 national budget in the first week of January, a timeline that would trigger a short reenacted budget period.
“Better a reenacted budget in January, or even in the first quarter of 2026, than rushing the passage of a national budget that is not responsive to the call of the times, amidst the yet unresolved investigations on the misuse and abuse of the current and previous expenditure programs, particularly involving flood control projects,” he said.
According to Lacson, a temporary reenacted budget is the most reasonable option given the failure of the bicameral conference committee to fully resolve disagreements on several provisions of the 2026 budget bill.
“Certainly, the bicameral committee report is far from perfect insofar as proper utilization of public funds is concerned. Having said that, we cannot be in a perfect and ideal world when we entrust government funds to politicians of different persuasions and attitudes,” he said.
Among the contentious issues are proposals to increase allocations for farm-to-market roads and various social assistance programs, including medical and crisis aid, which he said could be exploited by politicians for partisan purposes.
He also pointed to the Department of Public Works and Highways’ appeal to restore portions of its proposed budget despite previous commitments to reduce estimates linked to allegedly overpriced construction material benchmarks.
Lacson said the Senate responded to the House’s insistence on these provisions by inserting multiple general and special safeguards into the final budget measure.
These safeguards include a strict ban on guarantee letters and self-promotional practices in all assistance programs, tighter enforcement of medical aid under the Universal Health Care framework, and mandatory monthly oversight of infrastructure and farm-to-market road projects.
Meanwhile, infrastructure projects would be required to include grid coordinates to allow easier monitoring by the media and the public.
“I would like to believe that there are still many of us in Congress who are willing to listen to the public clamor of stamping out corruption in government. The key is not letting our guard down in monitoring and reporting, even shaming shenanigans in the public sector and their co-conspirators outside of government,” Lacson said.
