The possibility of a reenacted budget next year intensified after senators questioned multibillion-peso increases in financial aid and infrastructure allocations under the proposed ₱6.793 trillion national budget.
On Tuesday, December 16, Senate President Panfilo “Ping” Lacson said he and several colleagues would rather allow the government to operate on a reenacted budget than approve a spending measure marred by questionable insertions.
Lacson flagged several items, including a ₱5 billion allocation for farm-to-market roads raised by Senator Kiko Pangilinan, and said senators fully support Senate Finance Committee chairperson Sherwin Gatchalian in pushing for transparency in the 2026 General Appropriations Act.
“There should be no new items inserted into the budget. Otherwise, the floodgates will be opened to insertions, and we in the Senate will not allow that,” Lacson said.
“My position is, better a reenacted budget in January or even in the entire first quarter of 2026 than an unchecked, corruption-conducive and, worse, graft-ridden GAA. Most of my colleagues, at least in the majority bloc, share the same sentiment,” he added.
Lacson reiterated the need to strip the budget of “all signs of corruption,” as disputes between the Senate and the House continue over increased funding for the Medical Assistance to Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients program and the Department of Public Works and Highways, which have stalled bicameral deliberations on the 2026 spending bill.