Bicam on proposed 2026 national budget wraps; DPWH to get P529.6 billion
The Senate and House of Representatives have wrapped up the bicameral conference committee on the proposed 2026 General Appropriations Act.
Ending at 2:22 a.m., the six-day-long deliberations reconciled disagreeing provisions on the PHP6.793-trillion national budget.
“Finally, we have concluded our bicameral conference committee meeting… and finally, we have a budget that we can be proud of and responsive to the Filipino people,” Senate Committee on Finance chair Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said.
“I hope that now our kababayans were able to see firsthand kung gaano po naming pinaghirapan ang pagbuo ng budget na ito," House appropriations panel chairperson and Nueva Ecija 1st District Rep. Mikaela added, referring to how the deliberations were livestreamed for the first time.
Under the proposed budget, the bicam approved a P529.6 billion allocation for the Department of Public Works and Highways. Former DPWH Sec. Manuel Bonoan initially proposed a P880 billion agency for the budget, but his replacement, Sec. Vince Dizon, cut it down to P625 billion. The House and the Senate further slashed it down to P570 billion.
According to Gatchalian, a total of P20.7 billion has been saved as a result of budget cuts on overpriced construction materials, based on the new Construction Materials Price Data for approximately 10,000 projects provided by Dizon.
Gatchalian also said that this resulted in a more realistic budget for the department. "So naging mas near actual, hindi pa actual, but near actual na ang cost nila."
"Confident akong sabihin na wala nang overpriced na materyales sa loob nitong budget na ito,” he added.
From the saved budget, Gatchalian said P16.5 billion will be appropriated to PhilHealth, as proposed by Senators Risa Hontiveros, Pia Cayetano, Loren Legarda, and agreed by members of the House of Representatives. The remaining P4.2 billion will be allocated to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund.
On the topic of flood control projects, Suansing announced that the total appropriations are at P624.48 billion as opposed to the P881.31 billion proposal by the DPWH under the National Expenditure Program. The P255-B cut was made through the zeroing of the budget for locally funded flood control projects amid the flood control scandal, where only foreign-assisted projects were left.
According to a Philippine News Agency report, Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is "confident" that the final version of the proposed 2026 GAA will be passed and signed before the year ends.
