The Senate on Thursday, November 13 kicked off its marathon plenary deliberations on the proposed P6.793-trillion General Appropriations Bill (GAB) for 2026. This, after Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, sponsored and endorsed House Bill No. 4058 that contains next...
The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) reaffirmed its commitment to fiscal discipline, local empowerment, and disaster resilience as the Senate began plenary deliberations on the proposed P6.793-trillion national budget for 2026. During the initial rounds of debate, senators focused on fund...
The Davao City Council led by acting Vice Mayor Rodrigo Duterte II approved on second reading on Tuesday, Nov. 12, the proposed P15.8-billion annual budget for 2026. Councilor Danilo Dayanghirang, chairman of the Committee on Finance, Ways, and Means, reported that more than P13.6 billion of the...
Despite tougher competition and the entry of more than 550 new universities, over 30 Philippine universities earned spots in the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings: Asia 2026 — marking one of the country’s strongest performances yet in the prestigious regional list. The...
The Senate is planning to approve next year’s budget that is lower than the Executive department’s proposal under the National Expenditure Program (NEP), Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III said. Sotto disclosed this during an interview at the sidelines of the turnover ceremony of...
The Senate will no longer allow “alien” provisions to be included in the proposed P6.793-trillion national budget for 2026. Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” Lacson said this was the agreement in the Senate to make the budget process open “all the way to the bicam, and all the...
Senator Pia Cayetano on Tuesday, November 4 urged lawmakers to ensure that the P60-billion budget returned to the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) must be kept in the 2026 national budget. As ordered by President Marcos, Cayetano said the President’s directive should not only be...
President Marcos is confident that the government will be able to craft “a good, clean budget” for next year as Congress continues its deliberations on the proposed national spending plan. “Even now, upon resumption of the budget hearings, marami nang nakita in both Houses, in both the House...
Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero is now pushing for a bill seeking to standardize the budgeting process for infrastructure projects and curb overpricing through a Detailed Unit Price Analysis (DUPA) system. Escudero introduced the DUPA system under Senate Bill No. 1467, which he filed on...
Senator Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada has filed a resolution asking the Senate to examine the implementation of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Modernization Program which he noted is seemingly moving at a slow pace. Estrada, in filing Senate Resolution No. 161, said there is a necessity for...
DAVAO CITY – The Davao City Council Committee on Finance, Ways and Means, and Appropriations has completed the review of the proposed P15.8-billion city budget for 2026, an increase of about P1.8 billion from last year’s P14-billion allocation. Speaking before the Pulong-Pulong sa Dabawenyos...
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia—President Marcos has officially taken over the chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Marcos assumed the ASEAN chairmanship on Tuesday, Oct. 28, from Malaysia in a ceremony, capping this year 's ASEAN Summit. In his speech, Marcos vowed...
