House, Senate set to ratify 'historic' P6.793-T budget

The House of Representatives and Senate are set to ratify today, Dec. 29 the Bicameral Conference Committee (bicam) report on the 2026 General Appropriations Bill (GAB)--Congress' final act on the measure before it is sent to Malacañang for President Marcos' signature.

- By ELLSON QUISMORIO and HANNAH L. TORREGOZA

MILESTONE BUDGET - Senate Finance Committee Chairman Sherwin Gatchalian (third from right) and House Committee on Appropriations Chairperson Rep. Mikaela Suansing (fourth from right) shake hands after the signing of the Bicameral Conference Committee Report on the 2026 General Appropriations Bill (GAB) at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) on Sunday, Dec. 29, 2025. Also shown in the photo are, from left, Reps. Javier Lopez Benitez, Marcelino Libanan, Jose Alvarez, Jesus Romualdo, and Albert Garcia, and Senators Loren Legarda and JV Ejercito. Both chambers of Congress will be ratifying the 2026 GAB in their respective plenary sessions on Monday, Dec. 29, 2025. (SPPA Pool)

(SPPA Pool)

The House, led by Speaker Faustino "Bojie" Dy III, will hold a plenary session at around 2 p.m. to facilitate the ratification of the P6.793-trillion GAB--the biggest in the country's history. The Senate is expected to do the same.

Ahead of the ratification, House Committee on Appropriations Chairperson Nueva Ecija 1st district Rep. Mikaela Angela "Mika" Suansing and Senate Committee on Finance Chairperson Senator Sherwin Gatchalian signed the bicam report before 5 p.m. on Sunday.

The ceremonial signing took place at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC), where the House and Senate contingents held the marathon bicam hearings on the 2026 GAB between Dec. 13 and 18. Suansing and Gatchalian led the House and Senate contingents, respectively.

A copy of the final version of the proposed 2026 national budget would then be sent to Malacañang.

Since Dec. 18, the bicam secretariat has been racing to harmonize the numbers and language in the GAB based on the consolidation of the House and Senate versions of the bill that took place in the hearings. The voluminous document also had to be printed.