HOUSE Speaker Faustino ‘Bojie’ Dy III on Wednesday said the bicameral conference committee (bicam) for the proposed P6.793-trillion 2026 national budget will be conducted in full transparency and will not be rushed, assuring the public that lawmakers will be given ample time to study the bicam report before its ratification.
Also on Wednesday, amid speculations that the proposed P6.793-trillion budget next year contained ‘questionable insertions,’ President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced that the bicameral conference committee deliberations for the General Appropriation Bill will now be livestreamed for the first time.
The President said the leaders of the House of Representatives and the Senate have agreed to no longer limit the deliberations, which he noted is a public hearing, to a small committee.
‘We will live-stream the entire process so that if there are questionable, shall we say, insertions or additions or all that, it will also be clear who moved.who made those changes or who proposed those changes so that people will know. So that is what we have instituted, some new procedures,’ the chief executive said during the oath-taking ceremony of the Malacañang media group on Wednesday.
On Monday, the House of Representatives voted on third and final reading to approve the P6.793-trillion General Appropriation Bill (GAB) with a vote of 287 in favor, 12 against and two who abstained.
Some lawmakers claimed the approved budgetary bill contained ‘presidential and legislative pork,’ which were declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.
In his fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA) last July, Marcos vowed to veto the legislated 2026 national budget if it contained provisions, which are not aligned with the priorities of his administration.
He was compelled to veto P194-billion line items of the 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA), which were not aligned with his priorities. including unprogrammed appropriations for some public works.
Currently, Marcos said he is confident that for now, there is no need to veto the approved 2026 GAB by the House of Representatives, especially since he was involved in its preparation.
However, he said, he will closely monitor the possible changes in the GAB once the Senate approves its counterpart bill for the priority piece of legislation.
‘And as far as, as we have been able to examine, there are no projects that are listed there, there are no items that are listed there that are outside of the social economic development plan of the Philippines and all the plans derived from that, i.e, where the FMR [farm-to-market], school buildings [will be built]. All of these are all part of the general plan,’ he said.
Dy welcomes open bicam
In an interview, Dy said the House welcomes the Senate’s proposal to make the bicameral deliberations open to the public and livestreamed, a move he described as a significant step toward rebuilding public trust and ensuring accountability in the use of taxpayers’ money.
‘We very much welcome an open bicam to make sure that everything discussed there is transparent,’ Dy said. ‘If the Senate wants to hold it here in Congress, we will comply. It’s better that the discussions and hearings on our proposed budget are open to the public.’
On Monday, the House approved on third and final reading the proposed P6.793-trillion General Appropriations Bill (GAB) for fiscal year 2026-praised by its proponents as transparent, clean, and sufficient to ensure fiscal stability with programs that will benefit every Filipino.
Dy stressed that transparency remains his administration’s guiding principle. He said the House will continue its practice of livestreaming budget discussions through the Budget Amendment and Revision Subcommittee (BARC), which was formed to ensure that all proposed amendments are publicly accessible.
‘From the very beginning, our commitment has been to make the budget process accountable and transparent,’ Dy said. ‘That’s why we created BARC-to make all budget deliberations open to the public.’
Ample time
Addressing concerns from opposition lawmakers about the tendency to rush bicam reports for ratification, Dy assured them this year’s process would be different.
‘We’re not in a hurry. We will give all members enough time to read and carefully study the bicam report,’ he said. ‘We don’t want anyone saying they weren’t given a chance to review it.’
Dy added that even before the bicam report is finalized, the public will already be able to monitor deliberations through live streaming, providing real-time access to any proposed changes or insertions in the budget measure.
Unprogrammed funds
Meanwhile, Dy also clarified the inclusion of P249 billion in unprogrammed appropriations in the 2026 national budget, saying these funds serve as a reserve that can only be used when the government exceeds its projected revenues or secures additional foreign-assisted projects.
‘The unprogrammed appropriations are reserve funds of the government. They’re not part of the main budget and can only be used if there are excess revenues or new collections,’ Dy explained.
He emphasized that strict control measures-such as special budget requests, supporting documentation, and quarterly reports-are in place to prevent abuse and ensure proper use of the funds.
Dy acknowledged Senate President Tito Sotto III’s statement opposing the inclusion of large unprogrammed funds, saying differences between the two chambers are normal and healthy in the democratic process.
The bicameral conference committee is expected to convene in the coming weeks, with Congress resuming session on November 10.
Dy assured the public that the House will carefully review the bicam report before ratifying the final version of the 2026 General Appropriations Act.
‘Corruption and patronage’
The Bantay Budget Network (BBN) denounced the House-approved P6.793-trillion national budget for 2026, calling it a ‘budget of corruption, patronage, and foreign dependence’ that neglects the needs of ordinary Filipinos.
The watchdog group said the Marcos administration continues to rely on discretionary and opaque funds, including the P243-billion Unprogrammed Appropriations, which it described as a ‘presidential pork barrel’ that enables spending with minimal oversight.
It also accused the government of maintaining the pork barrel system, with an estimated P695 billion allegedly allotted for legislators’ pet projects, and criticized cuts to education and social services while maintaining funds for military programs and the NTF-ELCAC.
It further flagged the persistence of P10.9 billion in Confidential and Intelligence Funds, nearly half of which are controlled by the Office of the President, saying these allocations remain ‘audit-exempt and vulnerable to abuse.’
‘The 2026 budget centralizes fiscal power in the Executive and weakens accountability,’ it said. ‘True transparency requires dismantling shadow budgets and restoring Congress’ power of the purse.’