Leaders of the Senate and the House of Representatives are set to formally sign the bicameral conference committee report on the proposed P6.793-trillion national budget for 2026 this afternoon.

The Philippine Senate and the House of Representatives start the Bicameral Conference Committee on the Disagreeing Votes on House Bill No. 4058 for the Fiscal Year 2026 General Appropriations Bill, at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) in Pasay City, on Saturday, December 13, 2025. (SPPA Pool)

Senate Committee on Finance chairman Sherwin Gatchalian and House Committee on Appropriations chairperson Mikaela Angela Suansing are expected to lead the signing ceremony at 4 p.m. at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City.

Afterwards, lawmakers will proceed towards the ratification of the budget measure scheduled tomorrow, Monday, Dec. 29, 2025.

The copy of the final version of the proposed 2026 national budget would then be sent to Malacañang for President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s signature.

Earlier, Malacañang announced that the President will review the budget and has set the signing in early January.

In an interview late Saturday, December 27, Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” Lacson said that the proper implementation of the 2026 budget is now the major challenge confronting lawmakers.

Lacson said that while religious and civil society groups monitored the bicameral debates on the crafting of the budget bill, their next challenge is to guard how the Executive branch spends taxpayers' money next year.

“The same vigilance showed by the public led by the Catholic Church, religious groups and civil society organizations must be maintained in watching over the budget's implementation,” Lacson said in an interview on DWIZ radio.

“Our people must not let down their guard because the 2026 budget will show if there is indeed reform for our government and our nation. We must learn from the lessons of corruption in the budgets of 2025 and prior years,” he said.

While majority of his colleagues in the Senate share his reform-minded mentality, Lacson pointed out there are only 24 senators.

Thus, he said, the Senate needs the support of the public in flagging wrongdoing in the implementation of the budget.

“I hope that since there are only 24 of us, we should have the support of many Filipinos. So I will say, may the force be with us,” he said.

During the livestreamed bicameral conference meetings, the Senate decided to put in place several general and special provisions to serve as safety nets and safeguards at least in the execution of the 2026 budget measure.

These included absolute prohibition of guarantee letters (GLs) and any form of “epal” for all “ayudas”; Medical Assistance to Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients (MAIFIP) should be implemented strictly under the auspices of Universal Health Care program and in pursuit of complying with the UHC law; and a monthly oversight on infrastructure and farm to market roads (FMR) projects implementation, complete with grid coordinates for easy monitoring by media and the public.