A group of teachers on Thursday, November 13, criticized the administration of President Marcos for its continued inaction on alleged corruption in public infrastructure projects, even as thousands of typhoon-hit schools across the Philippines remain damaged by recent disasters. Citing data from...
Senator Erwin Tulfo on Thursday, Nov. 13, called on the Senate to ensure that the proposed P6.793-trillion national budget for 2026 has no “pork barrel” or discretionary funds allocated to lawmakers. The vice-chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance pointed this out during the first day of...
Senate Deputy Majority Leader Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito has called on lawmakers to approve additional funding for mental health programs to strengthen the services, as more Filipinos continue to battle mental health challenges. Ejercito made the call after meeting today, Thursday, November...
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...
A teachers’ group on Thursday, November 6, condemned what it called the government’s “criminal neglect” of education following the revelation that 24.8 million Filipinos are functionally illiterate — a figure it described as “a damning indictment of decades of underfunding and systemic...
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...
Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero has filed a bill seeking to ensure that government infrastructure projects are backed by feasibility studies as a way of preventing irregularities and misuse of public funds. In filing Senate Bill No. 1461 or the proposed Infrastructure Appropriations Integrity...
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...
