Congress extends calendar; Sotto rejects ‘blind’ ratification

Congress has extended its legislative calendar to 30 December to allow more time for the ratification of the P6.793-trillion national budget for 2026, as leaders vowed to prevent a repeat of the “backdoor insertions” that sparked corruption scandals in previous years.

The Senate and the House of Representatives will now reconvene on 29 December to vote on the Bicameral Conference Committee report. The move pushes the final adjournment of the 20th Congress back from its original 20 December schedule.

Senate President Vicente Sotto III said Monday the delay is necessary to ensure lawmakers receive a “clear and near-final” copy of the General Appropriations Bill, avoiding what he termed “blind ratification.”

“While I’m Senate President, I want it clear,” Sotto said in a statement. “I don’t want a summary; I don’t want a blind ratification like what happened last year.”

Meantime, House Majority Leader Sandro Marcos moved to amend the House calendar Monday, echoing the need for transparency. House Appropriations Committee chair Mikaela Suansing assured lawmakers that the final report would be distributed by 28 December, providing a full day for scrutiny before the vote.

The 2026 budget has been the subject of intense debate following a standoff over funding for the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) as Suansing confirmed that the bicameral committee reached a consensus to cut P90 billion from the House-approved DPWH budget, leaving the agency with approximately P570 billion for 2026.

The DPWH was originally slated to receive P881.3 billion, but the House slashed P255 billion from its flood control projects following allegations of massive irregularities.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has disclosed that he intends to sign the budget before year’s end to avoid a reenacted budget, which can slow the economy and hinder government services. However, Sotto noted that a brief reenactment into the first week of January would not be problematic.

House Speaker Bojie Dy, on the other hand, maintained that the 2026 spending plan is transparent and prioritizes social services as he cited that education received the largest share of the budget, at 4.1 percent of gross domestic product, funding 25,000 classrooms and the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education program.

Critics, however, continue to raise concerns over a sharp increase in funding for the Medical Assistance to Individuals and Financially Incapacitated Patients program. While intended to help indigent patients, some lawmakers warned the program’s reliance on guarantee letters from politicians makes it a “new face of pork barrel” and vulnerable to patronage.

Sotto expressed confidence that the Senate will have a quorum of at least 13 members for the 29 December session, despite the holiday travel season.