Presidential son and House Majority Leader Ilocos Norte 1st district Rep. Sandro Marcos has vowed to put his foot down in the event that the proposed national budget veers too much away from the Palace's National Expenditure Program (NEP) for 2026.

"I will not allow a budget on the floor to pass that is a mutation of the NEP or that [has] become too far off from the NEP," Rep. Marcos said in a stern tone during a chance interview with reporters on Wednesday morning, Aug. 13.

"As majority leader I won't allow that," said the 31-year-old and eldest son of President Marcos.

In his State of the Nation Address (SONA) late last month, President Marcos said he would not sign a budget measure that wasn't fully aligned with the NEP.

Asked if this was an encroachment of Congress' power to legislate the country’s annual outlay, Rep. Marcos hinted that realignments shouldn't be taken too far.

"It's the prerogative of the House to pull from certain agencies that haven't been utilizing their funds...It's the prerogative of the House to do that, it's part of the checks and balances of government," he said, referring to realignments.

"But again, if there is a tendency, in which it's taken too far, which the President thinks happened last year, that was his logic, that was what he was alluding to when he said he wasn't scared to reenact the budget. Kasi sa tingin naman ng Pangulo, sumobra naman last year (Because in the President’s view, it was taken too far last year)," the majority leader said.

"So I won't allow that," added Rep. Marcos.

The NEP is the precursor to the General Appropriations Bill (GAB), or proposed national budget. Once signed by the President, it becomes the General Appropriations Act (GAA).

Rep. Marcos attended the Department of Budget and Management's (DBM) ceremonial turnover of the P6.793-trillion NEP to the House of Representatives on Wednesday morning.