The bicameral conference committee reconciling the Senate and House versions of the proposed 2026 national budget has restored the allocation for the Office of the Vice President to ₱889 million, reversing a reduction made earlier in the House version of the General Appropriations Bill.
The amount matches the figure originally set in the National Expenditure Program prepared by Malacañang and backed by the Senate. Senate finance committee chair Win Gatchalian said the upper chamber had proposed ₱889.2 million for the Office of the Vice President, an amount eventually adopted by the committee.
Nueva Ecija Representative Mikaela Suansing, chair of the House committee on appropriations, said the House version of the budget had placed the Office of the Vice President allocation at ₱733.1 million, an amount similar to what the office received this year.
Deliberations on the Vice President’s budget were prolonged after Vice President Sara Duterte skipped two House hearings on the matter. Lawmakers later gave her another opportunity, and she appeared on September 16. Members of both the majority and minority blocs then observed tradition and extended parliamentary courtesy by not asking questions about the budget at the committee level.
The bicameral panel also moved closer to an agreement on the budget of the Department of Public Works and Highways, which had earlier caused a deadlock after the Senate cut ₱45 billion from the agency’s proposed allocation. Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon appealed for the restoration of part of the slashed amount.
Gatchalian said a portion of the ₱45 billion cut may be reinstated but ruled out the return of the entire amount.
“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 ₱45 billion, citing adjustments in the Construction Materials Price Data, which the DPWH uses as a 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 the Construction Materials Price Data. The agency later sent Gatchalian a letter containing additional project category based data that incorporated key variables such as hauling distances and localized market behaviors, resulting in what it described as a more realistic basis for funding.
As of the latest bicameral talks, the combined budget for both chambers of Congress increased to ₱38.6 billion from ₱37.19 billion. The bicameral committee also raised the budget of the Office of the President to ₱28.02 billion from ₱27.28 billion as set in the House General Appropriations Bill.
The breakdown of legislative branch allocations stood at ₱27.7 billion for the House of Representatives, ₱8.57 billion for the Senate, ₱1.68 billion for the Commission on Appointments, ₱390 million for the Senate Electoral Tribunal, and ₱256 million for the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal.
Lawmakers said budgets for 11 agencies remained under discussion, with DPWH funding still considered the most contentious. Also lined up for deliberations were the budgets of the tourism and trade departments, the judiciary, the Civil Service Commission, the Commission on Audit, the Commission on Elections, the Office of the Ombudsman, government owned and controlled corporations, special purpose funds, the military modernization program, and unprogrammed appropriations.
Suansing said lawmakers were confident they could complete the bicameral conference despite the remaining issues.
“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 said.
“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.”
Gatchalian said the final form of the ₱6.793 trillion national budget for 2026 may be transmitted to President Bongbong Marcos for signing by December 29.
