House Assistant Majority Leader and Las Piñas City Lone District Representative Mark Anthony Santos urged the Bicameral Conference Committee on Finance to allocate additional funds next year to accelerate the resolution of pending graft and corruption cases across government agencies.
“Justice delayed is justice denied. Our anti-corruption agencies need sufficient resources to accelerate investigations and court proceedings. We owe it to the Filipino people to ensure that every graft case is resolved swiftly and fairly,” Santos said.
Under the proposed 2026 national budget, the Office of the Ombudsman was allocated ₱6.39 billion, an ₱518-million increase from this year, covering general administration, anti-corruption investigations, public assistance, and operational support. Santos noted that the Ombudsman originally requested ₱9.42 billion.
He also called for higher budgets for the Sandiganbayan and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to address backlogs caused by limited manpower and operational constraints.
“If we are serious about fighting corruption, then we must empower our institutions to do their jobs efficiently. This requires not just political will, but adequate funding,” Santos said, emphasizing that faster case resolution would restore public trust and strengthen democratic governance.