President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is optimistic about having a ‘good, clean budget’ for 2026.
‘I think it will be. We will be able to show that it is in fact possible to write a good, clean budget,’ he told reporters at a press briefing following the conclusion of the 32nd Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders’ Meeting in Gyeongju, South Korea.
He had been asked if the public could expect more anti-corruption efforts from the government. This remark supports his previous announcement that the bicameral conference committee deliberations on the proposed P6.793-trillion national budget for next year will be livestreamed ‘to further encourage transparency.’
This bicam deliberations allow the Senate and the House of Representatives to thresh out differences and arrive at a common version of the General Appropriations Act, which the president will sign to become the General Appropriations Bill.
This also heeds the call of some lawmakers for transparency in bicameral deliberations.
Last July, Mamamayang Liberal party-list Rep. Leila de Lima, Akbayan party-list Reps. Chel Diokno, Perci Cendaña, and Dadah Kiram Ismula, along with Albay Rep. Krisel Lagman, filed Joint Resolution No. 2, which sought to open the bicam deliberations to the public – either by allowing in-person attendance or by livestreaming the proceedings online.