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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider House plenary debates on 2026 budget enter homestretch

House plenary debates on 2026 budget enter homestretch

Published Sep 29, 2025 12:25 pm  |  Updated Sep 29, 2025 01:15 pm

At A Glance

  • The House of Representatives under the leadership of Speaker Faustino "Bojie" Dy III, is bent on finishing the plenary debates on the P6.793-trillion General Appropriations Bill (GAB) or proposed national budget for 2026 this week.
Nueva Ecija 1st district Rep. Mikaela "Mika" Suansing (PPAB)
Nueva Ecija 1st district Rep. Mikaela "Mika" Suansing (PPAB)


The House of Representatives under the leadership of Speaker Faustino “Bojie” Dy III, is bent on finishing the plenary debates on the P6.793-trillion General Appropriations Bill (GAB) or proposed national budget for 2026 this week.
This, as the lower chamber reserved Oct. 10 next month as the period of amendments for the 2026 GAB, as embodied in House Bill (HB) No. 4058.
On Monday, Sept. 29, the Committee on Appropriations--which is heading the plenary debates, began tackling the proposed budgets of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Health (DOH), and Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
On deck for Monday’s HRep deliberations include the 2026 proposed budgets for the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Agriculture (DA), Health (DOH), along with other executive offices.
Plenary deliberations on the proposed budget of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) shall be on Tuesday, Sept. 30, together with those of the Departments of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Deparrment of Migrant Workers (DMW), Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), Civil Service Commission (CSC), and Career Executive Service Board (CESB), among others.
On Wednesday, Oct. 1, the Nueva Ecija 1st district Rep. Mikaela "Mika" Suansing-led committee will defend the proposed budgets of the Office of the President (OP) and other executive offices, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Department of Science and Technology (DOST), and Department of Transportation (DoTr).
The plenaey deliberations on the 2026 budget allocation for the Congress of the Philippines, support for the government corporate sector, lump sum funds, and the traditional Turno En Contra from the minority leader are also slated on the same day.
The GAB--once approved on third and final reading by the House of Representatives shall be transmitted to the Senate for its review.
Once the Senate approves its version of the GAB, the Bicameral Conference Committee will convene in order to reconcile and harmonize conflicting provisions, if any, between the two versions of the budget measure.
The goal is to have the President sign and approve into law the proposed 2026 outlay before the end of the fiscal year. 
Paragraph 7, Section 25, Article VI of the 1987 Constitution provides that the general appropriations of the preceding year shall be deemed as re-enacted if both Houses of Congress fail to pass the general appropriations bill for the ensuing year before the end of the present year.
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