On the 2026 budget and the UPAA alumni awards

Last week the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) submitted the budget 2026 materials to Congress — the National Expenditure Program (NEP), the Budget of Expenditures and Sources of Financing (BESF), the Staffing Summary, and the Budget Priorities Framework.

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And last Monday, Aug. 18, the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) — composed of DBM Secretary Amenah F, Pangandaman, Finance Secretary Ralph G. Recto, Secretary Arsenio M, Balisacan of the Department of Economy, Planning, and Development, and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor represented by Deputy Governor Zeno Abenoja — presented the budget and fiscal program to the House of Representatives’ Committee on Appropriations.

My favorite material is the BESF. Thick, all numbers, it contains not only spending programs but also revenues and borrowings, regular agencies and government corporations, and local government spending and revenues.

The first thing I checked was the fiscal program. There will be a nearly P600 billion increase in disbursements and spending next year from this year’s level, which is huge. That should reflect the various new freebies and expansion of subsidies that President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. announced during the 2025 State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 28.

When spending makes a big jump while revenues rise at normal level, then the budget deficit also jumps, from P1.56 trillion in 2025 to P1.65 trillion in 2026. A trillion pesos may look abstract for many people, so I computed the average deficit — it was P4.1 billion/day last year, P4.3 billion/day this year, and will be P4.5 billion/day next year.

Our interest payment alone was P2.1 billion/day last year, P2.3 billion/day this year, and will be P2.6 billion/day next year (see Table 1).