Marcos admin starts 2026 with reenacted budget

For the first time since it assumed power in 2022, the Marcos administration started the year under a reenacted budget as no fresh spending bill was signed into law last December.

- By ALEXIS ROMERO

The budget deliberations in the legislature were placed on the spotlight last year as demands for an end to corruption and a more transparent governance mounted due to the multibillion-peso flood control mess.

Malacañang previously said that President Marcos had wanted the proposed P6.793-trillion national budget enacted before the end of the year, but this did not materialize because of a change in the legislative calendar and the need for a thorough review of the outlay.

After delays caused by clashing views over the budget of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), the House of Representatives and the Senate ratified the 2026 spending bill last Dec. 29.

As Malacañang started its scrutiny of the appropriations bill, Executive Secretary Ralph Recto gave assurance that the 2026 outlay would satisfy legal and technical requirements.

While experts warned that a reenacted budget would have negative consequences on economic growth and public service delivery, Recto said a week-long reenactment of the 2025 outlay would not affect government operations.

Marcos is scheduled to sign the 2026 budget within the first week of the month.

The last time the government operated under a reenacted budget was in 2019, when then president Rodrigo Duterte signed the appropriations bill into law in April.

Although this is the first reenacted budget under Marcos, it is not the first time the administration had issues with the spending bill.

In 2024, the President vetoed P194 billion worth of items in the 2025 appropriations that are not in line with the administration's priorities. His action removed 180 public works projects and 15 unprogrammed appropriations from last year's budget.