Analysts call for more transparency in bicameral committee meetings for budget bill

THE HOUSE of Representatives’ approval of the P6.793-trillion national budget for 2026 signals “business as usual,” as lawmakers sidestepped deeper reforms despite pledges of transparency amid a widening scandal over flood control spending, analysts said over the weekend.

- Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio reporter

Congress should make the 2026 spending plan’s bicameral conference committee process more transparent to help rebuild public trust and ensure that spending priorities align with genuine development needs rather than political interests, they added.

“After the flood control scandal, Congress needed to be bold,” AJ A. Montesa, an advisor at budget watchdog People’s Budget Coalition, said in a Viber message. “This was their chance to restore public trust in the budget process and prove that corruption and pork barrel politics were truly being eliminated.”

“Unfortunately, it ended up being almost business as usual.”

Congressmen last week approved on second reading the massive spending bill amid a multibillion-peso flood control scandal that has gripped the flood-prone country, reallocating funds originally earmarked for flood infrastructure to education, health and agriculture in a bid to boost human capital development.

The move came alongside efforts to open the budget process to greater scrutiny, though critics warned it fell short of meaningful reform.

The budget bill’s final approval is set for Oct. 13 (Monday).