But Palace sticking to Jan. 5 signing to allow thorough review
Congress ratified yesterday the proposed P6.793-trillion national budget for 2026, but the government will still operate under a reenacted budget for the first week of the new year with the Palace sticking to its timeline of signing the spending measure into law by January 5.
At the House of Representatives, lawmakers ratified the bicameral conference committee report on the 2026 General Appropriations Bill via viva voce in under a minute – with some registering “no” votes such as ACT Teachers Rep. Antonio Tinio, Mamayang Liberal Rep. Leila de Lima, Davao City Rep. Paolo Duterte, Pwersa ng Pilipinong Pandagat Rep. Harold Duterte and Davao City Rep. Isidro Ungab.
Ungab, in a Facebook post, noted “serious procedural and substantive issues in the final version of the national budget.”
“I voted NO on the FY 2026 General Appropriations Bill because I cannot, in good conscience, support a budget riddled with unanswered questions, uneven allocations, and questionable insertions,” Rep. Paolo Duterte said.
“The bicam adopted the House version of Unprogrammed Appropriations amounting to ₱243 billion, disregarding the Senate’s effort to reduce it to ₱174.5 billion. But this is not merely a question of amounts. UAs should not merely be reduced or zeroed; they should be removed entirely. UAs have no place in the GAA,” De Lima said in a separate Facebook post.
At the Upper Chamber, Senators Rodante Marcoleta and Robin Padilla voted “no” to the ratification, while Senators Imee Marcos, Bong Go and Bato dela Rosa did not sign.
“When we place massive increases in ayuda and standby funds side by side, a troubling picture emerges. We are expanding both the soft channels of political patronage and the fiscal backdoors that allow them to be financed, all while claiming to pursue reform and discipline. This is impunity,” Marcoleta said in explaining his vote.
Some senators who ratified the bicameral report did so while expressing reservations, such as Senator JV Ejercito and Risa Hontiveros.
Ejercito cited increased funding for the Medical Assistance for Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients (MAIFIP) program, while Hontiveros raised the issue of unprogrammed appropriations.
“It is very unfortunate that some of the reforms we are pushing for, including an overwhelming cut in unprogrammed funds, are not carried in this budget. Still, it is an improvement that the bicam version includes safeguards aimed at preventing unprogrammed funds from becoming slush funds,” Hontiveros said.
Speaker Faustino Dy III, for his part, said the passage of the national budget is one of the most important duties of the House of Representatives under the Constitution.
“This budget is historic—not only because the process was transparent, but because the priorities were clear. It is a budget shaped by love for country, a deep understanding of our people’s realities, and genuine compassion for our kababayan,” Dy said.
The 2026 spending measure will be the first GAB to provide funding support to the education sector equivalent to 4.1 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP), above the international benchmark. Other sectors prioritized under the 2026 GAB are health and agriculture.
The fund increases for the identified priority sectors were sourced from reductions in the proposed 2026 budget of the Department of Public Works and Highways, following the flood control projects controversy.
Senate Finance Committee chairman Sherwin Gatchalian, for his part, described the measure as centered on people, institutions, and long-term development.
“The current budget measure, once signed by the President, would be a definitive turning point in terms of fiscal policy, providing focus on human capital development and institutional integrity,” he said.
The chair of the House of Representatives committee on appropriations, Nueva Ecija Rep. Mikaela Suansing, expressed hope that the Executive branch will submit the National Expenditure Program (NEP) to Congress earlier starting next year.
She said this will allow lawmakers to thoroughly scrutinize the proposal without having to rush its enactment.
“Hopefully if we’re able to receive it immediately after the SONA or a few days after the SONA, that would greatly help us manage the timeline,” Suansing said.
