Senate Advances Full Budget Process Transparency Early
MANILA, Philippines — The Senate is set to require the publication of the entire budget process on the government’s website, responding to growing public demand for openness. This new measure will cover everything from initial agency budget requests to the final approval stages.
Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, chair of the Senate Committee on Finance, described this initiative as the start of a “golden age of transparency and accountability.” He emphasized the importance of allowing citizens to track the budget’s journey step by step.
Current Budget Transparency Gaps
At present, only two key documents—the National Expenditure Program (NEP) and the General Appropriations Act (GAA)—are published on the Department of Budget and Management’s (DBM) website. The NEP represents the executive branch’s budget proposal, while the GAA shows Congress’s approved budget after the president’s signature.
“If you’re a member of the public and want to study the budget, you only get to see the first and last steps. The intermediate stages remain hidden because document uploads are incomplete,” Gatchalian explained.
Expanding Access to the Budget Process
To close this transparency gap, the Senate will require the DBM to publish the entire budget process online. This includes budget preparations, the NEP, the General Appropriations Bill (GAB), the Senate committee report, the Senate’s third reading version, the bicameral committee report, the reconciled bill, and the final GAA.
“This is what I mean by a golden age of transparency. The public will finally be able to follow every stage, from the NEP to the GAB, then the Senate’s third reading, the bicameral conference, and right through to the president’s signature,” Gatchalian added during a recent Kapihan sa Senado forum.
Next Steps for Institutionalizing Transparency
Senator Gatchalian announced plans to file a resolution that would institutionalize these reforms, ensuring that the full budget process remains accessible to the public in the long term.
Meanwhile, Malacañang has proposed a P6.793-trillion budget for 2026, which will be subjected to this enhanced transparency framework.
For more news and updates on budget transparency, visit Filipinokami.com.
