Senators on Wednesday, December 24, welcomed President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s plan to sign the ₱6.793-trillion 2026 national budget in the first week of January, allowing for careful scrutiny over a rushed approval.
Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” Lacson said a briefly reenacted budget is preferable to rushing a measure that may be unresponsive or prone to corruption.
“This is exactly what I said earlier – 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,” Lacson said.
Executive Secretary Ralph Recto confirmed the timeline, noting that Congress plans to submit the budget to the Executive on December 29, just two days before the New Year.
Senator Win Gatchalian, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Finance, said the move provides Malacañang sufficient time to review the 4,000+ page budget thoroughly.
“We acknowledge that submitting the budget to the Executive on December 29 is 2 days before the New Year and the Executive needs sufficient time to review the 4,000+ page enrolled copies of the budget,” he said.
“The prudent course of action is to move the signing to January 5 to ensure that every provision is thoroughly reviewed,” Gatchalian stressed.
Lacson noted that contentious issues, including funding for farm-to-market roads and social assistance programs like MAIFIP and AICS, remain unresolved, while the DPWH sought restoration of part of its budget.
The bicameral committee included general and special provisions as safeguards in executing the 2026 General Appropriations Act (GAA).
“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,” Lacson said.
He added that many lawmakers are still committed to addressing corruption.
“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.