Bicam livestream set but GAA fears persist

Lawmakers in the House of Representatives and the Senate have vowed to work double-time to meet the deadline for crafting the 2026 General Appropriations Act (GAA), amid the raging political turmoil that has affected the legislative timetable.

“The schedule is very tight, to be honest about it. Because if you look at the bicameral process, we   gave ourselves only three days. So we have to work really fast and find common ground,” a senator said.

Davao City Rep. Isidro Ungab said insertions in the budget must be aligned with the Philippine Development Plan and the Medium-Term Fiscal Framework.

The insertions become anomalous when made without proper planning and coordination with the Department of Economy, Planning, and Development (DepDev), the Regional Development Council, and the Development Budget Coordinating Committee.

“The recent catalogue of events in the ongoing flood control anomalies showcases last-minute insertions at the Bicameral Conference Committee (bicam), which means bicameral members inserted PAPs (programs, activities, and projects) at the eleventh hour without adhering to the development plans of the country,” he said.

The insertions in past-year budgets involved changes to budgetary items, constituting a significant deviation from the Philippine Development Plan. 

This also explains why the Philippines has failed to meet its GDP targets the past three years.

The bicameral conference, the last step in drafting the 2026 national budget, will be livestreamed for the first time.

The Senate’s ground rules for the livestream have been drafted and were sent to the House Committee on Appropriations.

Bad replacements

Ungab believes the most detrimental effect of last-minute insertions occurs when the lawmakers delete, reduce, and realign programmed appropriations to fund unplanned and self-serving projects. 

“Well-planned appropriations are reduced, deleted, or realigned to generate funding for the insertions,” according to Ungab.

The most affected were the programmed appropriations of several agencies. Even automatic appropriations and foreign-assisted projects were “chopped” into smaller projects to satisfy the funding requirements for the insertions.

The Senate is targeting 29 December to complete the 2026 General Appropriations Act before submitting it to the Office of the President.

“So, in other words, we need to ratify the budget by 17 December before we go on holiday break. So it’s really tight. That’s why the senators agreed to come in even during the holiday so we won’t be delayed. Because we have two holidays this week, and next week our session days will be affected. But so far, we are on track,” Senator Win Gatchalian said.

Gatchalian expects an unwieldy bicameral conference, as most House and Senate members will be given time to make interpellations in the plenary debate.

Gatchalian assured that the infrastructure projects listed in the 2026 General Appropriations Bill will not be substandard, unlike those that are now the subject of investigations.