Palace: Marcos will have working Christmas holidays

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. will spend the Christmas holidays working, mainly reviewing the P6.7-trillion budget proposal for 2026 approved by the Bicameral Conference Committee, Malacañang said Tuesday.

In a statement two days before Christmas Day, Presidential Communications Office Secretary Dave Gomez said, "The President will be spending the holidays working. As early as now, the President is already mobilizing his team to facilitate the immediate review of all amounts and corresponding provisions agreed in the bicam and trace the changes made from the originally submitted National Expenditure Program (NEP)."

"This thorough review will ensure that taxpayers' money will be put to good use, contributing to the attainment of societal goals that will be felt by all Filipinos, consistent with his pronouncement in the last State of the Nation Address (SONA)," Gomez added. 

Both the House of Representatives and the Senate extended session until December 30th for the ratification of the Bicam-approved proposed 2026 budget.

Ratification by both Houses of Congress is a required step before the President can sign bills, including the proposed General Appropriations Bill, into law. 

One of the salient provisions of the proposed 2026 budget was the reduction of the DPWH budget from P880 billion to P529.6 billion as the flood control kickback scheme controversy has prompted the DPWH to recompute the prices of its ongoing and future projects.

Last Monday, Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III floated the possibility of the national government operating on a reenacted budget for the beginning of 2026. 

Sotto said that if the Office of the President has already started reviewing the bicameral conference committee report, there is a possibility for the President to sign the budget bill by December 30 or 31. 

The Senate President himself, however, expressed doubt that this timeline would be met. 

Nonetheless, Sotto said a reenacted budget for "a few days or a week or so" would not have negative implications. — VDV, GMA Integrated News