Bicam hearings set for first-ever live stream amid flood control mess

The House of Representatives and the Senate will reconcile their differing versions of the proposed P6.793-trillion national budget for 2026 starting today, December 13, during the Bicameral Conference Committee deliberations, a proceeding which will be available on live streaming for the first time ever.

The live streaming of the Bicam deliberations on the proposed national budget was made possible after congressional inquiries revealed that funds inserted or introduced by lawmakers at the Bicam level funded questionable items, including alleged anomalous flood control projects.

Aside from congressional inquiries, various sectors have also questioned the legality of the 2025 national budget for having an unprecedented amount of unprogrammed funds in the national budget, or those items which will only be funded if there is excess revenue or fund sources such as loans. 

The proceedings may be viewed on the YouTube channels of the Senate and the House of Representatives.

House appropriations panel chairperson Mikaela Suansing had said Congress moved the Bicam deliberations from December 12 to 13 "to allow time for the technical staff to prepare." 

The Senate passed on final reading the 2026 General Appropriations Bill, or House Bill 4058, on Tuesday, December 9. For its part, the House of Representatives approved the proposed budget on final reading on October 13.

The signing of the 2026 General Appropriations Act by President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. is targeted on December 29. Malacañang had said the national budget is expected to be submitted for his review and approval by Christmas Day.

"Intensive preparations are required given that this is the first time that the Bicam will be live streamed and we would need a matrix of disagreeing provisions for the deliberations," Suansing said.

It remains to be seen, however, if such a practice will be the policy moving forward since live streaming the Bicam has yet to be enshrined in the House and Senate rules.

Transparency 'not optional'

The Bantay Budget Network, led by former Gabriela party-list representative Liza Maza, said making Bicam deliberations open to public scrutiny, including live streaming, mandatory is the only way to go to ensure that public funds are being well spent. 

"For a budget that will determine the lives, rights, and welfare of over 110 million Filipinos, transparency is not optional—it is a democratic obligation. The Filipino people have the right to know where every peso will be allocated, who will benefit, and what priorities are being pushed in the shadows of the budget process," they said.

Likewise, the group demanded the full disclosure of the following: 

• All "allocables" and line-by-line amendments, and their proponents, that were introduced in both chambers;
• All unprogrammed appropriations, which in reality function as presidential pork, separate from the already swollen budget of the Office of the President;
• All agency-level realignments and last-minute insertions; and
• All reports, tables, and harmonized figures to be used by the bicameral panel.

"In recent years, large portions of the national budget have been funneled into fascist and militarist spending, including confidential and intelligence funds, excessive defense allocations, and programs that empower state repression instead of strengthening social services. The people must be fully aware of these decisions—especially when education, health, agriculture, housing, and disaster response remain severely underfunded," the group pointed out. 

"The national budget is the most important policy tool of government—it is the people's money. The people have every right to know, to question, and to demand a budget that truly serves public interest, not political survival nor authoritarian consolidation," the group added. — VDV, GMA Integrated News