Indicative

The enrolled budget bill for 2026 is scheduled to be signed into law next Monday.

- ALEX MAGNO

No other document will be as indicative of where we are going as a nation in this crucial juncture as the budget bill. When finally signed into law, it is guaranteed to cause disappointment across many sectors.

While transparency was promised in the crafting of the budget's final form, this did not ensure participation. When the final bill went up for ratification at the House of Representatives, the microphones were turned off. Watchdog groups could look but not speak. Ratification was achieved the usual way: through the distribution of fat Christmas checks for the legislators.

The possibility that President Marcos Jr. will refuse to sign the bill and return it to Congress is almost nil. A reenactment of the 2025 national budget - the most corrupt budget in our history - will certainly be disastrous. The political fallout from reenactment cannot possibly be contained.

A bigger possibility is that the President will use his potent line-item veto power to take out some of the most objectionable features of the enrolled bill. Legislators expressed hopes the budget document will suffer no vetos. Whoever advises the President will surely push for a few line-item vetoes if only for political showmanship: to demonstrate the Chief Executive still has leverage in the budget process.