Bicam panel restores VP Sara’s budget to P889M
The bicameral conference committee reconciling the Senate and House versions of the proposed 2026 national budget has decided to put the allocation for Office of the Vice President (OVP) back to P889 million, as originally set in the spending program prepared by Malacañang.
During the committee meeting that dragged on till late Tuesday night, Nueva Ecija Rep. Mikaela Suansing, chair of the House committee on appropriations, said the House version of the General Appropriations Bill (GAB) placed the OVP budget at P733.1 million, or similar to what it got for this year.
But according to Suansing’s counterpart, Senate finance committee chair Sen. Sherwin “Win” Gatchalian, the upper chamber was proposing P889.2 million, an amount eventually adopted by the committee.
The Senate-backed allocation reflected the OVP figure in the National Expenditure Program (NEP), the spending menu presented to Congress by the executive branch at the start of the budget process.
Prior to Tuesday’s agreement, the OVP allocation for 2026 underwent lengthy deliberations especially at the House, after several lawmakers sought to bring it down due to Vice President Sara Duterte’s decision to skip two of the hearings on the matter.
She was given another opportunity and finally showed up on Sept. 16. Members of both the majority and minority blocs then observed tradition and extended her the parliamentary courtesy of not asking her any question about the budget at the committee level.
DPWH budget deadlock
But Duterte did not show up for the plenary debate, prompting the House to just adopt the OVP’s 2025 allocation for next year’s purse.
Also on Tuesday, the bicameral conference committee increased the budget of the Office of the President from the P27.28 billion—as set in the House GAB—to P28.02 billion.
The budget for both chambers of Congress went up to P38.6 billion from P37.19 billion.
The breakdown is as follows: House (P27.7 billion), Senate (P8.57 billion), Commission on Appointments (P1.68 billion), Senate Electoral Tribunal (P390 million) and House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal (P256 million).
The committee also came closer to an agreement regarding the budget of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), which earlier caused a deadlock after its head, Secretary Vince Dizon, appealed for the restoration of an amount slashed by the Senate.
Gatchalian on Wednesday said a portion of the P45 billion cut by the Senate from the 2026 budget of the DPWH may be restored.
He said he could not yet confirm the exact amount but ruled out the return of the entire P45 billion.
“It will be less because they factored in logistics, hauling, indirect costs, and other expenses to make it realistic … the DPWH is arguing that their budget is not implementable because the numbers given to us were too general,” Gatchalian said.
Dizon earlier sought to reinstate the P45 billion, citing adjustments in the Construction Materials Price Data (CMPD), which the DPWH uses as basis for planning infrastructure projects.
On Tuesday, the DPWH issued an apology “for the insufficient initial data [it] submitted to the Senate committee on finance regarding the application of CMPD.”
The agency also sent a letter to Gatchalian containing additional, project category-based data that incorporate key variables, such as hauling distances and localized market behaviors, resulting in a more realistic basis for funding.
Other pending matters
Lawmakers from both chambers were hoping they could wrap up the bicameral conference committee meeting on the proposed 2026 budget on Wednesday night.
As of this writing, the budgets of 11 agencies were still up for discussion, with the DPWH funding still considered the most contentious.
Also still lined up for deliberations on Wednesday were the budgets of the tourism and trade departments, the judiciary, Civil Service Commission, Commission on Audit, Commission on Elections, Office of the Ombudsman, government-owned and -controlled corporations, special purpose funds, the military modernization program, and the controversial unprogrammed appropriations.
Suansing, the chair of the House appropriations committee, said they were confident of finishing everything at the bicameral conference on Dec. 17.
“Based on our latest count with Sen. Win, we still have 11 to go. But we’re very, very positive that we’ll be able to finish the bicam,” she added. “We will do our best. Of course, the teams—both from the House and the Senate—will also work overtime. Even during the holidays, even on Christmas. While others will be celebrating Christmas, we will be working through Christmas.”
Earlier, Gatchalian said the final form of the P6.793-trillion national budget for 2026 may be on President Marcos’ desk for signing by Dec. 29.
