A group of education workers on Thursday, August 14, denounced the Marcos administration’s proposed P10.77 billion in confidential and intelligence funds (CIF) for 2026, branding them “pork barrel in disguise” and demanding their reallocation to education and social services. The Alliance of...
Certain districts received unexpected budget increases, which were not part of the agency’s vetted priority list, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) said on Thursday, Aug. 14. DPWH Secretary Manuel Bonoan said the additional allocations—particularly in Oriental Mindoro and...
Budget Secretary Amenah F. Pangandaman has assured that big-ticket foreign-assisted programs and projects will no longer suffer from delays, given the budget cover included in the proposed 2026 spending plan of the national government. For its part, aid agency Japan International Cooperation Agency...
Malacañang explained that the Ayuda para sa Kapos ang Kita Program (AKAP) was not given a fresh allocation in the proposed 2026 national budget because nearly half of its 2025 funds remain unused. In a press briefing on Thursday, Aug. 14, Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro said the...
The government has proposed a ₱31-billion National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund (NDRRMF) or calamity fund for 2026, nearly 50-percent higher than this year’s allocation. According to the National Expenditure Program (NEP) for fiscal year (FY) 2026, the proposed calamity...
Senator Panfilo "Ping" Lacson on Wednesday, Aug. 13, scored an early win in his efforts to ensure transparency in the budget process, after he set two suggestions that Senate Finance Committee Chairman Sherwin Gatchalian agreed to. Following a "solution-finding discussion" on Wednesday morning,...
While the proposed 2026 national budget increased by more than seven percent, confidential and intelligence funds (CIF) were slashed by 11.2 percent, or ₱1.35 billion, from the existing national budget. Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman reported during the ceremonial turnover of the fiscal year...
Two major teachers’ groups on Wednesday, August 13, criticized Senator Raffy Tulfo for his recent remarks against Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs), urging him instead to direct his “gigil” toward addressing the government’s chronic underfunding of public schools. The Alliance of Concerned...
In a bid for transparency, Senate Minority Leader Vicente “Tito” Sotto III wants all budget deliberations to be accessible to the public through livestreaming. Sotto had this to say he expressed full support for Concurrent Joint Resolution No. 4, filed by Senator Sherwin Gatchalian. Backed...
Senator Panfilo "Ping" Lacson on Wednesday, Aug. 13, pushed anew to make public the proponents of all amendments - including insertions - in the budget process. Lacson, an eagle-eyed watchdog of the national budget, said this will make the proponents answerable for flood control and other...
President Marcos has submitted to Congress a proposed ₱6.793-trillion national budget for 2026, saying it marks a deliberate shift from infrastructure-heavy investments to greater funding for the country’s human capital. In his budget message, the President said that while the administration...
Three days were added to the legislative calendar of the first regular session of the 20th Congress to accommodate the timely transmittal, deliberation, and approval of the 2026 General Appropriations Bill (GAB). This was made through the adoption on Tuesday, Aug. 12, of Senate Concurrent...
