The House of Representatives survived a potentially tumultuous mid-Congress leadership change to pass the P6.793-trillion General Appropriations Bill (GAB) or proposed national budget for 2026 on time.

Approved on third and final reading on the strength of 287 "yes" votes during plenary session Monday afternoon, Oct 13 was House Bill (HB) No.4058, the legislative equivalent of the 2026 GAB.

Deputy Speaker Ilocos Sur 2nd district Rep. Kristine Singson-Meehan, the presiding officer at that time, declared the final passage of the next year's outlay. Nominal voting results showed that only 12 House members voted "no", while two others abstained.

The 2026 GAB also beat the current P6.326-trillion enacted budget for 2025 as the biggest in the country’s history.

Both legislative chambers (House and Senate) will go on a month-long recess after Monday's plenary session.

Easily the biggest monkey wrench thrown into this year's budget process was Leyte 1st district Rep. Martin Romualdez's sudden resignation as House Speaker last Sept. 17. At that time, the House Committee on Appropriations was at the tail end of its per agency budget deliberations on the GAB.

In the backdrop of this resignation was the flood control projects corruption scandal, which was a huge distraction to lawmakers no matter what they say. To the credit of new House Speaker, Isabela 6th district Rep. Faustino "Bojie" Dy IiI, he kept the committee leaderships as is, including that of the all-important appropriations panel; as well as maintained the pro-transparency innovations introduced by Romualdez.

Foremost of these is the Budget Amendments Review Sub-Committee (BARSc), which essentially replaced the much-critcized "small committee".

Led by appropriations panel chairperson, Nueva Ecija 1st district Rep. Mikaela Angela "Mika" Suansing, the BARSc realigned the lion's share of the P255.528-billion flood control project funds under rhe Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to the key sectors identified by President Marcos: education, health, and agriculture.

Also keeping the chamber from unraveling during the challenges of the past two months was Majority Leader Ilocos Norte 1st district Rep. Sandro Marcos, who vowed earlier on in the budget process that he would not allow the passage of a budget not attuned to Malacañang's preferences.

Rep. Marcos was the one who moved for the 2026 GAB's third reading passage Monday.

The Suansing-led appropriations panel began consideration of the 2026 National Expenditure Program (NEP) on Aug. 18 with the launch of the per agency deliberations. The NEP is the precursor of the GAB.

On Sept. 22--and with HB No.4058 already filed--the House began the marathon plenary debates on the proposed outlay next year. The period of sponsorship and debates was concluded in the wee hours of the morning last Oct. 3.

The second reading passage of the measure took place a week later on Oct. 10.

During its two hearings, the BARSc proposed the accumulated augmentations to the three key sectors, namely P56.637 billion for education, P92.575 billion for health, and P53.754 billion for agriculture.

Suansing especially took pride of the fact that the total funding for education in the 2026 GAB was P1.28 trillion. She said this represents 4.36 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) of 2025--the first time this ever happened.

More importantly, she said these reconfigurations were made during livestreamed, public hearings--unlike the case with the now defunct small committee.

Perhaps the most controversial decision of the House as far as the budget measure was concerned was its decision to keep its unprogrammed appropriations (UA) amounting to P243.2 billion intact.

Minority bloc members--most of whom comprises those who voted "no" to the GAB--assailed the UA, which they likened to discretionary funds or "pork barrel" that was prone to corruption. The flood control projects mess only heightened their worries.