Congressional oversight on 2026 budget spending to be formed — Win Gatchalian

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said Tuesday that a joint oversight committee with members coming from both chambers of Congress is set to be activated for the first time to closely monitor the implementation of government projects funded by the 2026 national budget. 

Gatchalian, chairman of the Senate committee on finance, said that the Joint Congressional Oversight Committee on Public Expenditures will be composed of panel vice chairpersons from the Senate and House of Representatives. 

“I-oorganize namin ‘to at meron na akong mga items na gusto kong matignan. For example, underspending ng mga agencies, ‘yung foreign-assisted projects, some projects natin i-drill down pa like ‘yung pagpapagawa ng hospitals dahil overcapacity na ang mga hospitals natin,” he said. 

(We will organize this and I already have several items that I want to look at. For example, the underspending of some agencies, the foreign-assisted projects, and some projects that we have to drill down, like the construction of hospitals because our hospitals are at overcapacity.) 

He also said that part of the oversight functions of the committee is the ocular inspection of government projects to personally check how they are being carried out. 

Irrigation projects

Personally, Gatchalian said he intends to visit the irrigation projects being implemented by the National Irrigation Administration (NIA), as well as the projects by the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR). 

Should the oversight committee find anything questionable about the projects, Gatchalian said that recommendations will be made on how to better implement them. 

He said the committee will also discuss “contentious items” of certain agencies ahead of the annual budget briefings. 

“Gusto ko ‘yung highly contentious items, pag-usapan na ahead of time para pagdating ng budget briefings, meron ka nang konteksto o alam mo na ‘yung information,” he added. 

(I want the highly contentious items to be discussed ahead of time so that when the budget briefings start, we already have the context or we already know the information about those.) 

Budget calendar

Further, Gatchalian said that he had brought up his proposal to start the budget process earlier with Executive Secretary Ralph Recto. 

“In passing, I told him na hindi natin pwedeng gamitin ‘yung dating calendar sa ganitong proseso dahil napaka-iksi eh. So sabi niya, naintindihan niya at sabi niya ‘pag may oras, paguusapan namin ‘yung proseso,” he said. 

(In passing, I told him that we cannot use the old calendar anymore in the budget process because it is too short. So he told me that he understood and that we would talk about this when there’s time.) 

To recall, Gatchalian had said the legislative calendar should be adjusted in order to prevent delays in the budget process in the next years to come. 

This came after the delayed transmittal of the proposed 2026 national budget to the Office of the President, resulting in a brief reenacted budget for the start of the year. 

President Ferdinand ''Bongbong'' Marcos Jr. only signed into law the 2026 General Appropriations Act (GAA), which outlines the P6.793-trillion budget for the current fiscal year, on Monday, January 5. 

The President also vetoed nearly P92.5-billion worth of line items under the unprogrammed appropriations under the 2026 GAA. He said the unprogrammed funds this year were reduced to its “absolute bare minimum,” or at the level lowest since 2019, to ensure that public funds are expended in clear service of national interests. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News