FPJ Panday Bayanihan Party-list Rep. Brian Poe highlighted the importance of prioritizing peace as he successfully defended the proposed ₱217-million budget of the National Amnesty Commission (NAC) for 2026.

Interpellating Poe as the budget sponsor of the NAC were on Thursday night, Sept. 25 in the plenary debates on the proposed 2026 national budget were House minority bloc members Dinagat Islands lone district Rep. Kaka Bag-ao and Gabriela Party-list Rep. Sarah Elago.

“Before we consider other options, the first option we should always consider is peace," Poe, a vice chairman of the Committee on Appropriations, said during Bag-ao's interpellation of NAC.

"And we should always invest in that. And the fact that our colleague was able to bring up areas of the NAC that could possibly need additional funding is good. So that we know where we can add funding to incentivize the return of our Kababayans to a more peaceful path," he said.

"And I believe that this budget is a good budget and I hope that our colleagues here in the House can continue to support it," reckoned Poe, a neophyte solon in the 20th Congress.

The NAC's main task is to manage applications for amnesty--a process designed to end conflicts and reintegrate former rebels into society. Poe confirmed that the NAC is targeting 50,000 applicants for amnesty in 2026—well beyond its current funding.

“We’re looking at 50,000 applicants and it’s P20,000 per applicant. So, we’re looking at an additional P100,000,000,” he explained.

Bagao responded "I cannot overemphasize the importance of the National Amnesty Commission. This should be the exclamation point for the peace process as we consider granting amnesty through Balik-loob program."

"That's why I would like to manifest with the speaker that I support the request for additional P100,000,000 budget for the National Amnesty Commission. And that I also support the activity so that we can fully give a good ending to the peace process," she said.

The budget sponsor expressed his full support for expanding NAC’s resources.

Poe also responded to the Makabayan bloc's Elago, who raised very specific concerns about irregularities in field operations.

“The case that our colleague mentioned is highly irregular. It needs to be, as I’ve been told, it needs to be voluntary," he said.

Lastly, on Elago's question of where complaints should be filed in cases of forced surrender, Poe explained:

“First of all, because the mentioned identity was as a DSWD (Department of Social Welfare and Development) representative, maybe the first complaint is to the DSWD. Second, based on the NAC, they said they can only receive applications for amnesty…It would be CHR (Commission on Human Rights) if ever that would be involved in this particular situation.”

The plenary discussion on the NAC budget was terminated or concluded shortly after. However, the debates on the other agency allocations under the P6.793-trillion General Appropriations Bill (GAB) for 2026 is still ongoing as of this posting.