House okays OP budget

The House of Representatives formally approved the proposed P10.15 million budget for the Office of the President (OP) for 2027, marking a cut of more than half from the current year.

The budget was over 64 percent lower than the amount that OP was allocated this year, which was P28.03 million–the large budget was attributed to the Philippines hosting the 2026 Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit.

Bataan 2nd District Rep. Albert “Abet” Garcia, who sponsored the bill during plenary deliberations at the House of Representatives, lauded the office for reducing its budget while remaining transparent about how it spent its funds.

“This is an office that tightened its own belt before asking anything of our people,” Garcia said in a statement. “For the highest office of the land, this is a lean proposal.”

The budget faced no scrutiny at the House Committee on Appropriations level as it was afforded the legislative tradition called “parliamentary courtesy.”

Because lawmakers could not lodge their questions at the forefront, OP’s proposal was questioned in the plenary.