Gatchalian: Congress racing to pass 2026 budget before holidays

Lawmakers in the House of Representatives and the Senate are working double-time to meet the deadline for crafting the 2026 General Appropriations Act (GAA) amid the holiday breaks this December.

“Well, (the schedule) is very tight, to be honest about it. Kasi like pag titignan mo nga yung bicameral, three days lang yung binigay namin sarili namin. So, we have to really work fast and find a common ground,” said Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, during a virtual press conference on Monday.

The Senate lawmaker said they are targeting 29 December for the duly accomplished 2026 General Appropriations Act to be submitted to the Office of the President.

“And then ang target namin to sign is December 29. Ito na yung budget signing. So, in other words, kailangan ma-ratify namin yung budget by 17 December before we go on holiday break. 17 December is actually the last day of the session. So very tight talaga. Very tight. Kaya nga pumayag yung mga Senador na pumasok kahit na holiday para hindi tayo ma-delay. Kasi, we have two holidays this week and next week. So, tinamaan yung session days. But so far, we are on track,” Gatchalian explained.

The senator also anticipates an unwieldy bicameral conference, as most House and Senate lawmakers will be given time to interpellate during plenary debate.

“Kasi lahat naman ng legislator may kanya-kanyang advocacy, kung hindi mo napagbigyan sabihin nila, importante to, pasok natin or kung hindi napagbigyan during the Committee Hearing, during the plenary debates, i-voice out nila yan sa bicam. Nangyari na yan in the past in the bicams na na-attend ko, may mga last minute na vino-voice out gusto nila mapasok sa budget and imagine if you have kami, kung 12 members kami, sila 12 members din, that's 24 people. Kanya-kanyang gusto ipasok sa bicam. It can become unwieldy talaga. And walang katapusan kapag ganyan,” Gatchalian said.

The bicameral conference for the 2026 national budget will be livestreamed — the first time both Houses of Congress will open budget scrutiny to the public.

Gatchalian said he has already submitted the Senate’s ground rules for the livestreamed bicam to his counterpart, House Committee on Appropriations chairperson Mikaela Angela Suansing.

“Yung mga ground rules natin, like number one, walang alien ng mga programs or projects tulad ng AKAP or other things. At pangalawa, let's limit it to the disagreeing provisions. So yun yung dalawang ground rules na ibinigay ko sa kanya. Of course, ito ay pinag-uusapan rin. That's from the Senate. But of course, sa House, iba rin yung kanilang pananaw dyan. And we also talked about yung mga disagreeing provisions na mahalaga para sa ating bansa,” he said.

Gatchalian then assured that the infrastructure projects under the 2026 General Appropriations Bill will not be ghost projects or substandard.

“At hindi na rin nila kakatayin yan, meaning babawasin yung presyo. At on top of that, minandato pa namin yung DPWH na magbawas pa ng presyo dahil may mga nakita tayo na pwede pang bawasan yung presyo. So maglalagay kami ng special provision para imandato ang DPWH, bawasan pa yung presyo ng mga infrastructure. So in short, I can assure the public na hindi na mauulit yung mga ghost project kasi meron na mga technical description yan,” according to Gatchalian.