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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Senate OKs proposed 2026 national budget on second reading

Senate OKs proposed 2026 national budget on second reading

Published Dec 4, 2025 06:45 pm

At A Glance

  • Prior to its approval on second reading, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, reported the highlights of the period of amendments to the 2026 General Appropriations Bill (GAB). Gatchalian said he is "98 percent confident" that the 2026 national budget they will approve is clean and devoid of any red flags.


The Senate approved on Thursday, December 4 the proposed P6.793-trillion national budget for 2026 on second reading.

Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri moved to close the period of amendments for House Bill No. 4058 under Committee Report No. 18.

Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” Lacson, sitting as presiding officer, approved the motion. Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano, and Sen. Joel Villanueva voted “no” on the approval.

Prior to its approval on second reading, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, reported the highlights of the period of amendments to the 2026 General Appropriations Bill (GAB).

Gatchalian said the complete details, including line by line amendments, and all pertinent attachments will be made available on Saturday, December 6, prior its approval on third reading.

In an interview earlier, Senate President Vicente Sotto III assured that there won’t be a reenacted budget for 2026.

The Senate leader also assured that the Upper Chamber will ensure that the budget process is transparent: “Anything that's passed must be on the table, must be read, must be shown on livestream and the public knows what was put in, who put it in.”

Also, during an interview, Gatchalian said he is “98 percent confident” that the 2026 national budget they will approve is clean and devoid of any red flags.

“(It’s) clean. Meaning, there are details, there are station numbers, validated by DPWH (Department of Public Works and Highways). And not only DPWH, the NIA (National Irrigation Administration) is also included, farm-to-market roads are also included," he said.

He admitted though, that not all amendments proposed by the senators were accepted.

“I would say majority (of them made the cut). But not all,” he said.

The approval of the 2026 national bduget on second reading was originally scheduled on Wednesday, Dec. 3, but was pushed back to Thursday, evening as senators lobbied hard for their proposed amendments to the 2026 budget.

“They presented papers that were not included in their letters before. So that’s what caused the delay,” Gatchalian said.

Related Tags

2026 national budget Senate Sherwin Gatchalian Tito Sotto III
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