Senate Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” Lacson said they will not allow a reenactment of the 2025 national budget in the proposed 2026 General Appropriations Act (GAA).

Sen. Lacson described the 2025 budget as corrupt “to the core” and said it prompted measures to ensure transparency during the 2026 budget deliberations, including livestreaming the bicameral conference committee.

“Passing the 2026 budget bill is important. Without it, we may have a reenacted budget, and we will not allow that. If the 2025 budget is reenacted, we will see large lump-sum appropriations coming from a 2025 budget that has had so many problems,” he said in Filipino in a radio interview.

The 2025 budget reportedly contained unreasonable insertions following claims made by former Ako Bicol Partylist representative Zaldy Co in a video uploaded to his official Facebook account, alleging that P100 billion worth of insertions were directed by the president.

Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo said the insertions were made without President Marcos’ knowledge and were orchestrated by former undersecretaries Adrian Bersamin and Trygve Olaivar.

The Mamayang Liberal Partylist on Thursday urged for an open and transparent bicameral conference committee. The bloc requested livestreaming of meetings and media coverage of deliberations.

Before the bicameral committee can proceed, the Senate must pass its version of the 2026 national budget. Lacson said the Senate had to adjust its schedule due to issues raised during deliberations, including extending discussions on the general principles of the budget from one day to three days and addressing concerns on the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) budget.

“Many anomalies were bared in the deliberation of the NIA's budget, so we need to return. These are unforeseen circumstances,” he said.

Lacson added that reforms such as livestreaming the bicameral conference committee and disallowing “alien” items could expedite the process by discouraging last-minute insertions.

“The best reform introduced so far is that the bicam will not allow the insertion of any item that is not in the Senate or House version. This way, we will simplify and possibly shorten the proceedings as there will be no more insertions or dealings,” he said.