Marcos Firm on 2026 Budget Alignment
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has firmly declared he will veto the 2026 General Appropriations Bill if it does not fully align with the National Expenditure Program. This early stance underscores his commitment to ensuring that the national budget reflects the administration’s key priorities.
In the first part of the third episode of the PBBM Podcast titled “Sa Likod ng Sona,” aired Monday, Marcos emphasized his readiness to reenact the current budget should the 2026 proposal fail to meet the required standards. “Well, yes. I am willing to reenact the budget if that’s what we’ll have to do,” he said. “Since I made it already—I made New Year’s Day the hard deadline—I’m sure we will find a way. I’m sure we will find a way,” he added confidently.
Background on Budget Process and Marcos’ Warning
The president’s warning came during his recent State of the Nation Address, where he expressed concern about the country’s flood control program and issues involving lost funds due to corruption. He stressed that any General Appropriations Bill not fully aligned with the National Expenditure Program would be returned. “Therefore, for the 2026 national budget, I will return any proposed General Appropriations Bill that is not fully aligned with the National Expenditures Program. And further, I am willing to do this even if we end up with a reenacted budget,” Marcos said.
To clarify, the NEP is the budget proposal prepared by the president and the executive branch, which is then submitted to the House of Representatives for review. According to the 1987 Constitution, Congress can introduce adjustments but cannot exceed the spending ceiling set by the president. Once revisions are made, the proposal becomes the General Appropriations Bill.
If the GAB is not passed or signed into law by the end of the year, the government operates on a reenacted budget, which uses the prior year’s allocations.
Legislative Response and Marcos’ Agreement
Senate President Francis Escudero responded to Marcos’ declaration by reminding that Congress holds the constitutional “power of the purse” and cannot simply approve the executive’s budget proposal. Marcos, in turn, expressed agreement with this viewpoint during the podcast.
“It’s really the job of Congress to craft the budget. But it’s our job to present the plan and request funding from Congress so we can accomplish everything we aim to do — and to ensure that public funds are not lost, wasted, or stolen. That’s all we’re after,” he said in Filipino.
Concerns Over Foreign-Assisted Projects
Marcos also lamented the removal of funding for foreign-assisted projects. “We need to bring that back because foreign-assisted projects are important. And besides, this also damages our reputation,” he said in Filipino. He further criticized the practice of allocating funds to poorly planned projects categorized as unappropriated, which he described as debt-financed theft. “What does that mean? That’s debt. We’re borrowing money just so these people can steal from it. That’s too much. That’s really too much,” Marcos added.
Earlier this year, Marcos expressed an intention to recover funds allocated to the Department of Public Works and Highways’ foreign-assisted projects, highlighting the need to focus on programs that truly benefit the public.
For more news and updates on the 2026 General Appropriations Bill, visit Filipinokami.com.
