As expected, members of the House minority bloc comprised most of the congressmen who rejected the final passage of the proposed P6.793-trillion national budget for 2026.

On Monday afternoon, Oct. 13, the 2026 General Appropriations Bill (GAB) as embodied in House Bill (HB) No.4058, was approved on third and final reading by the House of Representatives on the strength of 287 "yes" votes.

There were 12 "no" votes and two abstentions.

The negative votes came from Akbayan Party-list Reps. Chel Diokno, Perci Cendaña, Dadah Ismula; Makabayan members ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio, Kabataan Party-list Rep. Renee Co, Gabriela Party-list Rep. Sarah Elago; Mamayang Liberal (ML) Party-list Rep. Leila de Lima; SAGIP Party-List Rep. Paolo Marcoleta; Batangas 1st district Rep. Leandro Legarda Leviste; Albay 1st district Rep. Krisel Lagman; Dinagat Island lone district Rep. Kaka Bag-ao; Caloocan City 2nd district Rep. Edgar Erice,

Of the 12, only Leviste wasn't part of the minority bloc. There are 29 minority members in the House in all.

Cavite 4th district Rep. Francisco "Kiko" Barzaga and PPP Party-list Rep. Harold Duterte abstained during the nominal vote during Monday's plenary session.

In the explanation of her "no" vote, De Lima zeroed in on the GAB's controversial unprogrammed appropriations (UA) worth P243 billion, which she reckoned should be scrapped.

"Madam Speaker, it’s time to stop having unprogrammed appropriations in the national budget. Hindi lang dapat i-zero, kundi dapat ay NO, NO–wala na dapat unprogrammed fund sa [GAB] (It should not only be turned into zero, but no, no--the unprogrammed funds should be scrapped from the GAB," she said.

"The practice of having [UA] is tantamount to undue delegation of legislative power to the Executive. Only the legislature has the power to appropriate. In the past, billions have been authorized to be released without adequate congressional scrutiny and sufficient safeguards. Naging pugad tuloy ito ng mga (That’s why it has become a nest for) ghost, sub-standard and overpriced projects," De Lima noted.

Erice expressed similar disdain for UA. He described it as £lump sum in nature, lacking itemization or specificity".

"Congress cannot abdicate its constitutional duty by handing over blank checks disguised as unprogrammed funds,” he added.

Erice said that eliminating these funds from the GAA was a matter of constitutional fidelity and moral responsibility. If necessary, he is ready to seek the Supreme Court's (SC) intervention.

Despite the landmark P1.28 trillion allocation for the education sector in next year's outlay, Tinio hinted that this wasn't enough to address key needs.

"Kulang ang klasrum at kakarampot ang sweldo ng mga guro. Pinaasa ang mga titser. Ang pangakong overtime pay, naging OTY o 'okay thank you' dahil zero budget ang nilaan para dito. Dagdag pa rito, wala na ngang bayad, abonado pa ang mga guro sa ARAL program," he said.

(Classrooms are lacking and teachers’ salaries are meager. The teachers were given false hope. The promised overtime pay turned into “OTY” or “okay thank you” because zero budget was allocated for it. On top of that, not only are they unpaid, teachers even have to shell out money for the ARAL program.)

Co, in her explanation of her negative vote, slammed the supposed skewed prioritization of items in next year's GAB.

Kapag hinati ang buong pondo ng DepEd (Department of Education), lalabas na P90 at 50 centavos lang ang nakalaan sa kada estudyante kada araw.Samantalang kung hahatiin ang pondo ng SUCs (State Universities and Colleges) at CHEd (Commission on Education) lahat ng college students ngayon, nasa P100 naman ang nakalaan sa kada estudyante kada araw.

(If the entire budget of the DepEd is divided, it comes out to only P90.50 allocated per student per day. Meanwhile, if the budgets of SUCs and CHEd are divided among all college students today, it amounts to P100 per student per day.)

"Pero pag hinati-hati ang buong budget ng PNP (Philippine National Police), on average P2,522 ang nakalaan kada pulis kada araw. Kung ikukumpara sa AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines), P4,629 naman kada tao kada araw ang nakalaan. Ito ang realidad ng ating badyet. Tama ba ang priorities na ito?" asked Co

(But if the entire budget of the PNP is divided, on average P2,522 is allocated per police officer per day. In comparison, for the AFP, P4,629 per person per day is allocated. This is the reality of our budget. Are these priorities right?)

Meanwhile, Elago's heart bled for farmers and fishermen, which she claimed did not have ample support in next year's GAB.

"Farmers and fisherfolk remain abandoned, while imports flood our markets. Under the 2026 proposed national budget, there is no sufficient support and production subsidy for the neglected sector that feeds our country," she said.

"Kung ikukumpara sa dambuhalang budget para sa imprastruktura, napakaliit lamang ng mapupunta para sa lokal na produksyon (Compared to the enormous budget for infrastructure, local food producers will get so little)," Elago noted.