Senate OKs budget on 2nd reading

By Adrian H. Halili, Reporter

THE PHILIPPINE SENATE on Thursday approved on second reading the P6.793-trillion budget for 2026, slashing funds for the Public Works department and cutting deeply into unprogrammed appropriations as lawmakers confront intensifying public anger over corruption allegations in the government’s spending process.

The chamber’s move represents one of its most forceful responses yet to weeks of public criticism over opaque budget items associated with a widening scandal involving lawmakers and officials accused of siphoning billions from flood control funds.

“The complete details, including the line-by-line amendments and all pertinent attachments, will be made available on Saturday, Dec. 6, prior to the approval on third reading of the fiscal year 2026 General Appropriation Bill,” Senator Sherwin T. Gatchalian, who heads the Committee on Finance, told senators on the floor.

The record spending plan was approved after 46 days of committee and plenary debates, held under the shadow of a corruption controversy that has gripped Congress since whistleblowers alleged large-scale diversion of infrastructure funds.

Senators Alan Peter S. Cayetano and Emmanuel Joel J. Villanueva voted against the measure. Mr. Cayetano said the proposal failed to support rural development and retained questionable allocations.

“This is such a great opportunity for a game-changer budget, yet it does not really promote rural development, and the unprogrammed funds are still there,” he said, adding that the minority bloc would continue to work with the majority in the bicameral conference committee.

The 2026 spending plan is 7.4% higher than this year’s P6.352-trillion budget and is equivalent to 22% of economic ouput. The economy grew 4% in the third quarter, a pace that makes it unlikely for the government to hit its full-year growth target of 5.5% to 6.5%.

A large portion of the Senate’s adjustments fell on unprogrammed appropriations, where lawmakers carved out P68.5 billion, reducing the total to P174.5 billion from the House of Representatives-endorsed P243 billion.

Retained components include P97 billion for foreign-assisted projects, P35 billion for their government counterpart funding and P30 billion for the Armed Forces’ modernization program.

The Senate Committee on Finance earlier pledged to eliminate problematic insertions after the 2025 budget faced scrutiny for bloated unprogrammed allocations. The 2026 proposal originally included P250 billion in such items, most of which were pre-planned initiatives rather than emergency or contingency funds.

Lawmakers also imposed a significant cut on the Department of Public Works and Highways — the agency at the center of the alleged fund diversion — slashing its budget by P55.91 billion to P568.56 billion from the House-proposed P624.48 billion.

On the other hand, the Senate increased funding for key social services. The Department of Education’s budget was raised to P992.66 billion, or P78.5 billion above the House’s P914.14-billion proposal, largely to accelerate classroom construction.

State universities and colleges received an P8.6-billion increase to P140.29 billion. The Department of the Interior and Local Government’s budget was also increased by P22.6 billion to P308.24 billion.

But several agencies faced cuts: the Department of Health was reduced by P19.96 billion to P263.22 billion; the Department of Social Welfare and Development lost P31.28 billion, bringing its allocation down to P230.02 billion; and the Department of Agriculture was trimmed by P21.06 billion to P159.23 billion.

‘SMARTER SPENDING’
Governance experts said the Senate’s adjustments should be paired with strategic reallocations to expand public services.

Joy G. Aceron, convenor-director of transparency group G-Watch, said the Senate should channel more funds to health, education and anti-poverty initiatives.

“The increase should come with more effective service delivery mechanisms coupled with transparency, participation and accountability,” she said in a Facebook Messenger chat. She added that shortages in classrooms, textbooks, teachers and basic facilities should be addressed, while programs like the 4Ps should be guided by clear development goals.

Ederson DT. Tapia, a political science professor at the University of Makati, said the Senate should redirect funds toward “high-impact, high-accountability sectors” such as food security, disaster resilience, health, education and digital governance.

“In tight fiscal environments, cuts only make sense if they are paired with smarter spending,” he said, noting that every peso should produce measurable gains for households.

Mr. Tapia also warned that transparency must improve.

“When the public can see the budget, agencies tend to choose projects with clear and immediate results,” he said. “The challenge is to avoid neglecting long-term reforms such as digital systems and capacity building.”

Public pressure for accountability has intensified following reports of anomalous flood control allocations and congressional insertions.

In response, the Senate earlier required all 2026 budget documents, including transcripts and hearings, to be posted online. Malacañang also said the bicameral conference committee meetings would be livestreamed.

The Senate aims to approve the budget on third reading by Dec. 9, with bicameral meetings set for Dec. 11 to 13.