Imee mulls Konektadong Pinoy funding for 2026

Senator Imee Marcos has urged her brother, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., to allocate a budget for the Konektadong Pinoy Act (KPA) even if the bill has not yet been signed into law.

In a press statement on Tuesday, Senator Marcos recommended that funding for the KPA be included in the 2026 National Expenditure Program (NEP).

“We are already a generation behind in digitalization. Delaying the implementation of the KPA further poses a serious threat to our nation’s development. We must allocate funding for it without delay,” she said.

The KPA is already in the Palace and awaiting the President’s signature. However, it may automatically lapse into law by 23 August — the end of the 30-day default period for signing or vetoing an enrolled bill.

Under legislative procedure, an enrolled bill is the final version of a proposed law, ratified by both chambers of Congress and certified by their respective secretaries.

Senator Marcos also called on the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) to begin drafting the law’s implementing rules and regulations.

She cited President Marcos Jr.’s 2023 State of the Nation Address as clear justification for accelerating the law’s implementation.

“Digitalization is the call of today, not the call of the future, but of the present. It is here. It is needed, and it is needed today. The government must fully embrace digitalization to provide better service to the people, through its vital frontline services and its back-end functions,” the President said in his speech.

“If the administration is serious about this commitment, there should be no reason to delay the full passage and implementation of the KPA,” Senator Marcos said.

She also echoed the view of Philtrust Bank chair Hermogenes Esperon that the president missed an opportunity in his recent SoNA to discuss plans for advancing the digital economy.

“Esperon is right. It was a missed opportunity to lay out concrete strategies for growing the digital economy, which has the potential to increase government revenue and help address the country’s annual budget deficit,” she said.