Congress begins talks to open P6.793-T budget bicam to public

THE House of Representatives and the Senate have begun talks to iron out rules for opening the joint congressional discussions on the proposed P6.793‑trillion national budget for 2026 to the public, in a bid to quell distrust in the budget process.

Lawmakers are expected to convene the bicameral conference committee (bicam) on the budget bill in the second week of December, Nueva Ecija Rep. Mikaela Angela B. Suansing said. The Senate is expected to approve its version of the proposed spending plan next week.

This gives the Executive about three weeks to review the reconciled and ratified version of the budget, which President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. must sign before end-December. Otherwise, the current budget will be re‑enacted.

“We’re starting to coordinate, the Congress and the Senate, on the rules of the bicam,” Ms. Suansing, who heads the House Appropriations Committee, told reporters. 

Moves to open the bicam to the public form part of fresh reforms introduced by lawmakers amid a corruption scandal that has rocked the Philippines that has so far sapped business confidence, affected markets and stunted economic growth.

Ms. Suansing said there was no longer a need to approve a House resolution making the bicameral conference committee transparent, as lawmakers would already include it in the congressional body’s guidelines.

“I believe there’s no need for a resolution to… actualize that. It’s already there in the rules we’re building,” she said.

The Senate has passed a resolution in August to open joint congressional budget talks to the public, but the House has yet to adopt a counterpart proposal. Efforts to publicize the bicam have been supported by the House leadership, including Speaker Faustino “Bojie” Dy III.

Ms. Suansing said the House also passed its version of the budget bill with “no insertions,” citing efforts to improve the budgeting process by publicizing efforts to amend the proposed spending plan, which was previously made by a group of select lawmakers behind closed doors.

The lower chamber had earlier slashed around P255 billion worth of funding originally intended for flood control works under the Public Works department, rechanneling the amount towards education, health and food sectors.

“There are no hidden things that were included,” she said. “I can vouch for it.”

Lawmakers are deliberating the 2026 spending plan against the backdrop of the multibillion-peso flood control controversy that has drawn closer-than-normal scrutiny amid calls to make the budget process more transparent. — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio