After months of hearings and deliberations, Congress is now in the final stretch of crafting the proposed 2026 national budget.

But instead of merely reconciling differences between the House and Senate versions, the bicameral conference committee (bicam) has been flooded with last-minute funding appeals from government agencies, moves that some lawmakers said undermine the budget process.

The Department of Transportation (DOTr), for instance, wrote to the bicam on December 10 seeking an additional P3.66 billion to fund an automated fare collection system and the LRT-1 Cavite Extension’s common station. 

The agency proposed sourcing the funds from allocations for the Metro Manila Subway Project Phase I and the North–South Commuter Railway System. These projects were not included in the National Expenditure Program (NEP).

Dangerous precedent

The eleventh-hour requests drew criticism from senators, espcially Senator Loren Legarda, former chair of the Senate finance committee.

While Legarda acknowledged the importance of DOTr projects, she said agencies should have raised proposed changes during the House and Senate budget deliberations. Major projects, she said, should already be reflected in the NEP.

“Bakit ba tayong mga Pilipino, palaging afterthought? Palaging pahabol? Palaging last minute?” Legarda lamented during the fourth — and supposedly final — day of bicam deliberations. (Why are we Filipinos always afterthought? Always additional requests? Always last-minute?)

She warned that accommodating last-minute appeals could set a dangerous precedent for the budget process.

“Let it be a lesson to those doing the budget — whether you’re a big department or a small bureau or commission — you present it to the DBM. You think about it for one year,” she said.

Senator Kiko Pangilinan echoed the concern, warning against setting a precedent where changes are entertained “in the last moments… in the last five meters” of the budget process.

House appropriations committee vice chair Mikaela Suansing said both she and Senate finance committee chair Win Gatchalian were initially reluctant to entertain DOTr’s request. However, she said the projects were deemed critical and difficult to ignore.

Gatchalian confirmed that the bicam has been receiving numerous last-minute appeals from various agencies.

Public works secretary’s appeal

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) also submitted a letter to the bicam seeking the restoration of nearly P54 billion that had been cut from its proposed budget following adjustments in Construction Materials Price Data.

DPWH’s appeal prompted the postponement of what was supposed to be the third day of bicam deliberations on Monday, December 15. 

Agriculture chief’s appeal

The bicam also approved a new list of farm-to-market roads that will be funded under the 2026 budget after the Department of Agriculture (DA) submitted a new list that replaced some P8.9 billion worth of projects that were not in the Senate’s version of the spending plan.

Suansing said Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel wrote in a letter that the initial list submitted to Congress was not an official transmission from the department since he was on medical leave at the time.

Pangilinan — who sponsors the DA’s budget at the Senate — moved to approve the updated list since it specified coordinates. He also cited a special provision which requires the inclusion of a citizens’ participatory audit on projects.

“What happened subsequently was that because it was submitted without the approval of the secretary, the BAFE (Bureau of Agricultural and Fisheries Engineering) head was removed or replaced,” Pangilinan explained.

During the first day of bicam talks on Saturday, December 13, lawmakers agreed to double the funding for farm-to-market road projects to P33 billion from just P16 billion.

Senators were initially hesitant to approve the move since they were unsure if the DA can absorb the additional funding as it prepares to take over construction of farm-to-market roads from the DPWH.

It was the first time the public got a clear look inside the bicam and it wasn’t exactly smooth sailing. One can only wonder how much of this drama — or lack of it — usually plays out when the cameras are off. – Rappler.com