House minority seeks budget realignment
Minority lawmakers in the House of Representatives on Monday called for realignments to the proposed P6.793-trillion spending plan for next year, as the chamber prepares for a week-long process to amend the budget bill ahead of the congressional recess.
The House needs to rechannel funds toward biodiversity and recycling initiatives, while also pushing for hikes on education and social services, House Minority Leader and Party-list Rep. Marcelino C. Libanan said.
“We hope that the observations we have raised be given due consideration and carried out into the period of amendments and then after by the bicameral conference committee,” said Mr. Libanan, who was flanked by minority lawmakers while delivering his turno en contra speech on the House floor.
Congressmen last week opened floor debates on the record spending bill after 37 days of scrutiny at the House appropriations committee, which has rechanneled most of the P255-billion flood control funds to the Education, Health and Social Welfare departments.
“The national budget must always be more than numbers; it must be a reflection of our people’s needs, their struggles and their hopes for a better future,” Mr. Libanan said. “It is about protecting the vulnerable, uplifting workers and farmers, strengthening health and education, defending rights and investing in infrastructure.”
He said the bicameral panel that would finalize the proposed 2026 spending bill must also hold its hearings publicly to improve transparency amid concerns of budgetary insertions, issues that had hounded lawmakers since last year.
The deliberations in the bicameral conference committee must be transparent and open to the public,” he said. “Otherwise, all our efforts in this chamber would have been put to naught if the process is still done in secrecy.”
This year’s budget process underwent major reforms after Nueva Ecija Rep. Mikaela Angela B. Suansing, who heads the House appropriations panel, pushed for greater transparency after last year’s controversy over alleged insertions in the spending plan.
Amendments to the budget bill were previously managed by a closed-door “small committee” of select lawmakers, with the measure swiftly approved on second and third reading on the same day. — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio
