Senate President Vicente Sotto III said for the first time in Philippine budget history, the chamber is looking at passing a budget lower than the executive-proposed National Expenditure Program (NEP) for 2026.
The NEP for 2026 amounts to P6.7 trillion. Should the Senate pass a budget lower than this, it will be the first time that Congress would do so, at least according to the Senate president.
Speaking at a Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum on Wednesday, Sotto said he has yet to discuss this plan with the executive branch or President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
‘We still have a plan, but I haven’t had the chance to mention or bring it up to the Executive or to President Marcos yet. But our plan is that, as much as possible, this might be the budget that’s lower than the NEP,’ said Sotto.
‘We will reduce the NEP. That means the final budget will be even lower – so we’ll have to borrow less. That’s our target,’ he added.
Prior to this, Sotto said they are still deciding whether or not they would slash the proposed funding of the Department of Public Works and Highways, following the recommendation of finance panel head Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian.
‘If we see that there’s no longer overpricing, then we might not do so. But if we feel or find out that the particular undertaking of the DPWH remains the same, then we will move to approve the proposal of the committee chairman to cut it,’ said Sotto.
Earlier, Gatchalian told reporters that the DPWH could lose approximately P340 billion in its proposed 2026 funding.
In an ambush interview following a Senate sub-panel on finance’s hearing on the proposed 2026 funding of the DPWH, Gatchalian said he deferred the approval of the agency’s budget, citing the need to justify potential red flags in it.
‘The potential amount that can be removed is P348 billion. Because the red flags already account for P271 billion. Then there’s the overpricing of around 20 percent across the board for road projects-that’s another seventy-something billion. So more or less, it’s about P340 billion,’ Gatchalian told reporters.
According to the senator, the figure has yet to be finalized and remains to be an estimate.
‘So if their budget is about over P600 billion, and you subtract the P340 billion-plus, then around P350 billion would remain,’ he said. /apl