The bicameral conference meeting set on Tuesday, 16 December, was held off anew due to the deadlock in the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) budget.

Senator Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan said the bicameral conference committee deliberations on the proposed 2026 national budget could still be postponed as both panels are still discussing the data submitted by the DPWH on Tuesday.

"There are data that have not yet arrived. This is what Secretary Vince Dizon said, that they will recompute the cost of materials, so we're waiting for that. Because that will give us an idea of what the actual cost will be," Pangilinan told reporters in an ambush interview.

"Instead of the full budget restoration that they were originally asking for, then we would already know based on that what is overpriced," he added.

Pangilinan said that Senate Committee on Finance Chair Sherwin Garcia wants to tackle the budget of the DPWH first.

"He wants to finish it already. We also don't want to postpone or adjourn because we want to finish it," he added.

"We're just waiting for the report, for the data."

The insufficient data submitted by the agency led to a deadlock over its P45-billion budget cut, prompting Senator Win Gatchalian to call for a postponement of the bicameral meeting on Monday, 15 December.