Legislators clash over whether Marcos should join 2026 budget bicam

Amid a deep political crisis facing the country — from failing to meet public expectations to allegations of corruption — legislators are divided on whether to allow President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to participate in the bicameral budget deliberations this year. The move is being weighed as a possible measure to prevent irregularities and fund misallocation following the controversial 2025 budget.

Senator-elect Panfilo "Ping" Lacson said Thursday that it's about time Marcos assert his "persuasive" powers over Congress, particularly the House of Representatives, to deter its members from "self-aggrandizing insertions and pork barrel" in the upcoming budget hearings for next year’s national expenditure.

Lacson's remark came shortly after Marcos launched a major revamp of his Cabinet as part of an ongoing effort to address the administration's inefficient public service delivery and weed out corrupt and underperforming officials.

"More than recalibrating his administration by calling for the courtesy resignations of his Cabinet members, the President must exercise his 'persuasive' powers over Congress, especially the House of Representatives… The 2025 General Appropriations Act is like a deadly virus that is choking the country to perdition," Lacson stressed.

The returning senator, known for being an anti-corruption crusader, firmly believes that with Marcos at the helm of the budget deliberations in the bicameral conference panel, "greed[y] legislators" will be discouraged from prioritizing their personal interests and instead craft a budget genuinely responsive to the people's needs.

Marcos has reportedly been planning to sit with the bicam panel — comprising selected members of the Senate and the House tasked with ironing out diverging provisions in the national budget bill — to ensure that the capital outlay for 2026 aligns with the administration's priority projects.

However, House Senior Deputy Minority Leader Paul Daza argued that having the Chief Executive present in that crucial legislative process, which belongs exclusively to Congress, will undermine the separation of powers and encroach on checks and balances.

While he said the proposal is a "good idea" aimed at making the budget process more transparent, Daza also pointed out that such a move would constitute executive overreach and erode the independence of Congress.

"The power of the purse lies with Congress," the Northern Samar lawmaker asserted. "Any official of the executive branch of government who joins the budget deliberations of Congress may encroach on the principle of checks and balances among the co-equal branches of the government."

House Deputy Minority Leader France Castro echoed Daza's concerns, asserting that Marcos’ presence in the bicam puts unnecessary pressure on lawmakers to make decisions more in line with Malacañang than the interests of the people.

“The bicam is not the President’s playground. It is where representatives and senators must negotiate and finalize the people’s budget without pressure from Malacañang,” Castro averred. “The President’s presence or intervention violates the principle of checks and balances and endangers the independence of Congress.”

Daza, however, suggested that opening such a closed-door meeting to the public and the media could help prevent budget manipulation, which he claimed is more "constitutional and legal."

"Without a careful public scrutiny and transparency, billions of taxpayers' money — that should otherwise go to basic services, investments, and infrastructure — [is] going to and will continue to go to pork barrel," Daza claimed.

Senate Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros on Wednesday also strongly objected to having Marcos sit in the bicam, even as an observer, warning that it is not allowed under the Constitution and could expose him to legal actions.

The alleged irregularities in the highly criticized 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA) have reportedly prompted Marcos to keep a close eye on next year’s budget, which is pegged at P6.793 trillion.

The 2025 GAA was trimmed down to P6.326 trillion from the initial P6.352 trillion after Marcos vetoed P194 billion worth of line items deemed inconsistent with the administration’s priority programs.

Critics and watchdogs have challenged the legality of the 2025 GAA before the Supreme Court, citing blank line items, questionable insertions, increases, and reallocations — issues largely blamed on Congress.

But Malacañang and congressional leaders have categorically denied the existence of such irregularities.