Marcos admin starts 2026 with reenacted budget

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January 2, 2026 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — 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.

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.

Prior to his signing of the 2025 budget, Marcos revealed that it contained “insertions” with no clear documentation and several changes in the funding requests made by some agencies.

Marcos made clear his opposition to any attempt to mangle the budget proposal of the executive branch during his fourth State of the Nation Address last July.

“For the 2026 national budget, I will return any proposed general appropriations bill that is not fully aligned with the National Expenditure Program (NEP),” the President said. “And further, I am willing to do this even if we end up with a reenacted budget.”

In recent statements, Malacañang said the review of the 2026 budget passed by Congress seeks to fully account for any change from the NEP submitted by the executive branch.

DPWH vows integrity in 2026

The DPWH has reiterated a commitment to push for transparency and accountability as it moves on from 2025 where it was wracked by the congressional insertions and ghost flood control scandal.

In a New Year message issued on Dec. 31, the DPWH pledged to uphold integrity, accountability and genuine services to the public this year.

“The DPWH welcomes 2026 with a renewed pledge to uphold integrity, accountability, and genuine service to the Filipino people. We wish everyone a meaningful 2026,” the DPWH said.

In a year-end press briefing last Dec. 18, Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon vowed to swiftly deliver quality infrastructure “at the right price” this year, citing it was able to show that this can be done under the new leadership team that came in last Sept. 1 during which it was able to undertake infrastructure rehab projects quickly as well as cheaply.

Dizon had also assured full implementation of an initiative to totally take out the “built in overprice” of infrastructure projects by addressing the overpriced Construction Materials Price Data set up across all DPWH regional offices and district engineering offices during previous DPWH administrations.

‘GAB pork-laden, for political survival’

The 2026 national budget is for pork, patronage and political survival of the Marcos administration, according to the Makabayan bloc, which voted “no” to the ratification of the bicameral conference committee report on House Bill No. 4058 or the 2026 General Appropriations Bill.

“This budget is not for the Filipino people. It is not for the country. It is a budget designed for the political survival of the corrupt Marcos administration, a budget that perpetuates systemic corruption through billions in pork barrel funds, and a budget that enables fascist repression against a growing people’s movement demanding accountability and genuine democracy,” Makabayan said in a statement.

Contrary to the administration’s claims, Makabayan said that the 2026 national budget is not a “pork-free budget.”

“This is a brazen lie. The 2026 budget is riddled with multiple forms of pork barrel: presidential pork, vice-presidential pork, allocables, hard pork, soft pork, generals’ pork, and the newest variant – LGU pork,” the Makabayan bloc said.

The progressive bloc said that the bicameral committee bloated LGU pork to unprecedented levels.The Local Government Support Fund, according to Makabayan, was increased by P41.87 billion – from P16 billion in the National Expenditure Program to P57.87 billion, the largest in history.

The bloc said that Financial Assistance to LGUs ballooned from P5 billion to P37.5 billion, while the Growth Equity Fund jumped from P1 billion to P11.3 billion – both lump-sum funds that can be used for infrastructure and ayuda at the discretion of politicians.

Even the Calamity Fund, Makabayan said, was converted into pork and a new lump-sum fund, the Disaster Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Assistance Program for LGUs, was allocated P15.33 billion introduced as a new form of presidential pork barrel that can be used in areas affected by calamities, epidemics or armed conflict over the past two years.

The group said that in total, LGU pork in the 2026 budget amounts to P73.2 billion. Meanwhile, the P8 billion generals’ pork – the Support to Barangay Development Program under the anti-communist task force – remains intact.

Makabayan added that the 2026 budget more than doubles allocations for band-aid assistance programs that fuel patronage politics: Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation at P63.9 billion, Medical Assistance to Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients at P51.6 billion, and Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers at P22.4 billion. –  Jose Rodel Clapano, Rainier Allan Ronda