Manila, Philippines – The House of Representatives officially started on Monday the briefing and deliberations for the proposed 2026 budget under the National Expenditure Program (NEP).
Headed by the Committee on Appropriations, the House started the deliberations with the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC), which is under the chairmanship of Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Amenah Pangandaman.
The committee is composed of DBM, Department of Economy, Planning and Development (DEPDev), Department of Finance (DOF), and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) who formulated the NEP and allocation on the proposed P6.793-trillion national budget for fiscal year 2026.
The committee will be quizzed on the financing sources, budget allocations, and the budget proposals of each and all departments and agencies.
House Speaker Martin Romualdez expressed commitment in ensuring thorough study and criticism of the proposed fund to ensure that it will be allocated as needed.
This hearing also marked the implementation of the changes in the budget deliberations to ensure its full transparency.
Aside from dissolving the small committee, civil society organizations were also welcomed for the first time to personally witness the budget deliberations as non-voting observers.
All livestreams of budget deliberations will also be accessible to the public.
It can be recalled that during his fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA), President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. mandated that full transparency in the 2026 budget process must be ensured, and that he will void it if the fund is not aligned with the government programs.—Mia Layaguin, Eurotv News