Malacañang sees timely passage of 2026 national budget

Malacañang on Tuesday assured that the 2026 national budget will be passed on time amid the recent shakeup in President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s Cabinet.

In a Palace press briefing, Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Atty. Claire Castro said the government’s economic managers are working on passing the next year’s budget despite movements within the Cabinet.

“There will be. They are working on that,” Castro said.

The Senate is conducting plenary debates over the 2026 national budget, while the House of Representatives has already passed its version on third and final reading earlier this year.

In past years, Congress usually sends the General Appropriations Bill to the President for his approval before the year-end, to allow the Chief Executive enough time to scrutinize it and enact it into law.

Castro’s remarks came a day after she announced that the President has accepted the resignation of Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin and Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman out of delicadeza after they were mentioned in the flood control scandal.

She said the voluntary resignation of the two key Cabinet members was meant to allow the government to conduct an impartial investigation of the allegations.

Finance Secretary Ralph Recto replaced Bersamin, while Frederick Go, the Special Adviser to the President for Investment and Economic Affairs (SAPIEA), took over the Department of Finance DOF).

Budget Undersecretary Rolando Toledo was named as officer-in-charge of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).

“It may be an issue but we were able to talk to Sec. Go and according to him, any reassignments of the Cabinet members to DOF and DBM, they are the same people who worked in the budget and the finance, so there will be no problem with that,” Castro added. — JMA, GMA Integrated News