The House of Representatives on Monday formally started the deliberations on the PHP6.793-trillion proposed national budget for 2026.

Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez vowed that the House would closely scrutinize the proposed National Expenditure Program (NEP) transmitted by the Department of Budget Management to Congress on Aug. 14.

“Bawat piso ay may pinaglalaanan, at bawat gastusin ay dapat may pakinabang sa tao (Every peso has a purpose, and every expense must benefit the person),” Romualdez told members of the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) at the start of the House briefings on next year’s outlay.

Four DBCC members briefed the House appropriations committee, chaired by Nueva Ecija Rep. Mika Suansing on the proposed national budget approved by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on July 15.

The DBCC members present were Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman, Finance Secretary Ralph Recto, Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan Jr., and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Gov. Eli Remolona Jr.

“To our partners in the Executive Branch, allow me to be clear: we will scrutinize, we will question, we will deliberate thoroughly. But we will do so not as adversaries, but as allies united by a shared purpose,” Romualdez said.

He said the House budget hearings are not just “a routine in fiscal exercise.”

“It is where the lifeblood of our nation —the people’s money— is measured against the people’s needs. Here, in this august chamber, we commence the critical work of transforming vision into action, and action into lasting progress,” he added.

Romualdez informed DBCC members, who are also part of the President’s economic team, that the House “has opened its doors wider than ever before.”

“We ended the practice of the ‘small committee’. We welcomed civil society observers. Because the Filipino people deserve full transparency in how their hard-earned money is planned, allocated, and spent,” he said.

The 2026 NEP, anchored on the theme, “Agenda for Prosperity: Nurturing Future-Ready Generations to Achieve the Full Potential of the Nation,” will build on the solid foundations laid over the past three years of the Marcos administration.

The NEP is the national government’s proposed budget for the next fiscal year and serves as the basis of Congress in crafting the General Appropriations Bill, which then becomes the General Appropriations Act once signed into law by the President.

The spending plan includes the planned government expenditure for the succeeding fiscal year, as well as the allocated funds for different programs and initiatives.

In line with the Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028, the 2026 NEP will prioritize key programs in education, infrastructure, digitalization, health, and social services. (PNA)