2026 budget flood deal free — Suansing

The House-approved 2026 national budget bill has no line items for flood control projects, contrary to the claims made by her predecessor, ex-Ako Bicol Partylist Representative Elizaldy Co, appropriations committee chairperson Mikaela Suansing assured Wednesday.

Co alleged that President Marcos had inserted P97 billion in flood control projects into the National Expenditure Program, Malacañang’s proposed spending plan submitted to Congress for approval. 

“There’s no more flood control, definitely,” Suansing told reporters. “When you say NEP, technically, there are no insertions there from a technical standpoint.”

The NEP serves as the foundation for the annual budget bill passed by Congress. The House and the Senate have the power to reallocate, reduce, or scrap funding for specific programs. However, any changes must be approved by both chambers in a bicameral conference committee.

The House approved its version of the 2026 General Appropriations Bill in October, outlining the administration’s proposed P6.793-trillion budget.

The GAB reallocated P255 billion from the 2026 budget of the Department of Public Works and Highways to education, health, agriculture, and social protection.

P250-B slash in DPWH funds

The realignment brought down the DPWH’s allocation for next year from P881.3 billion to P625.7 billion, although a Senate panel intends to further reduce it to P568.56 billion. 

According to Co, the P97 billion was “inserted” by Marcos into the DPWH’s budget, but the House did not allow it, leading to the massive cut in the agency’s funding. 

The amount in question was on top of the P100 billion that Marcos allegedly inserted in the 2025 budget.

However, Suansing countered that there can’t be any insertions in the NEP “because that’s the version that was submitted” by Malacañang to Congress. Typically, insertions are made during the budgetary process in Congress and are called “congressional insertions.”

Nonetheless, Suansing assured that the House version of the budget bill contains no allocation for flood control projects.