Senate prioritizing 2026 budget approval before year end — Gatchalian

Senate finance committee chairman Sherwin Gatchalian on Thursday said the approval of the proposed P6.793-trillion budget for next year remains to be a “top priority” for the upper chamber despite earlier reports that leaders at the House of Representatives are recommending its return to the Department of Budget and Management for review.

According to Gatchalian, the Senate will continue the budget deliberations with hopes to have the proposed 2026 budget signed before the year ends. 

“The approval of the 2026 budget remains a top priority of the Senate. We understand the concerns raised by House leaders; however, the Senate will proceed with budget briefings as scheduled to avoid delays in the budgeting process,” the senator said in a statement.

“Gusto nating maisabatas ang isang maayos at mapagkakatiwalaan na pambansang pondo para sa tuloy-tuloy na pag-angat ng ekonomiya,” he added. 

(We want to legislate a proper and trustworthy national budget for continuous economic development.) 

Earlier on Wednesday, Deputy Speaker and Antipolo Representative Ronaldo Puno said that House party leaders moved for the return of the proposed 2026 budget to the DBM over erroneous entries.

But on Thursday, however, deliberations of the House committee on appropriations continued.

Palawan Representative Jose Alvarez, vice chairperson of the House committee on appropriations, was one of those who made the recommendation but was present at the deliberations Thursday morning.

Alvarez said the secretaries of the DBM and the Department of Public Works and Highways called  Speaker Martin Romualdez and the House committee on appropriations to ask that the budget deliberations continue.

Reeanacted budget

Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman, meanwhile, said the DBM and the entire Executive branch of the government are ready to cooperate with Congress to iron out alleged questionable items in the proposed P6.793-trillion national budget for 2026.

She, however, cautioned that a reenacted budget would “cause a downturn” for the Philippines’ economy. 

The DBM defines a reenacted budget as a situation where the previous year’s General Appropriations Act (GAA) is extended and remains in effect for a preceding year until such time Congress passes a budget bill into law. 

The Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) began its briefing to the Senate on the proposed 2026 national budget on Monday, September 1. — Giselle Ombay/RSJ, GMA Integrated News