The House of Representatives on Monday approved the ₱6.793-trillion 2026 General Appropriations Bill (GAB), or House Bill 4058, on its third and final reading.
The proposed national budget received 287 affirmative votes, 12 negative votes, and two abstentions, after close to two months of deliberations from the time the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) turned over the National Expenditure Program (NEP) on August 13, reported RH 12 Milky Rigonan.
“Ginawa po ng inyong Kongreso ang lahat para siguraduhin na ang budget para sa taong 2026 ay transparent, malinis, at higit sa lahat, may sapat na safeguards para siguraduhing hindi ito maaaring abusuhin,” Nueva Ecija 1st District Representative and Appropriations Committee head Mikaela Suansing said.
To ensure transparency in the budget legislation process, all discussions were made accessible to the public through live-streams and invitations to civil society groups and organizations.
The small committee was replaced by the Budget Amendments Review sub-committee, and discussions regarding all amendments were also made public.
“Sa ating mga kababayan, tinanggal na po ng inyong Kongreso ang tabbing sa usaping budget. Pinagsumikapan po namin na talagang ipakita kung saan napupunta ang bawat piso ng buwis na mula sa dugo at pawis ng bawat Pilipino,” Suansing addressed the Filipino people.
“Pinapangako po ng inyong Kongreso na ang budget para sa taong 2026 ay mararamdaman ng bawat Pilipino, na ito ay tunay na tumutugon sa pangangailangan ng ating mga kababayan at ng ating bansa, na ito ay isang budget na mapagkakatiwalaan ng bawat Pilipino,” she added.
The Office of the Vice President’s (OVP) budget was reduced by ₱156 million, equivalent to 17.5 percent of its proposed 2026 budget at ₱889.24 million. The office’s budget now stands at ₱733.2 million, just as it had been for 2025.
Other items scrapped from the GAB amounted to ₱255 billion allotted for flood control projects. Instead, ₱202 billion of it was reappropriated for priority sectors like the education, health, and agriculture sectors.
