Palace begins 2026 budget review

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December 30, 2025 | 10:32am

MANILA, Philippines — Any changes made to the budget are now up to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. after the Palace received the ratified 2026 General Appropriations Bill (GAB) from Congress. 

In a statement on Tuesday, December 30, Executive Secretary Ralph Recto confirmed that the Palace received the P6.793-trillion budget the day prior and that a thorough review had begun. 

“The President and his team are scrutinizing all allocations and provisions to fully account for any changes from the originally submitted National Expenditure Program (NEP),” Recto stated. 

Recto said that the review will “take about a week”. 

Recto initially announced that the signing of the budget would be on Jan. 5, 2026—leaving the country on a reenacted budget for five days.

A reenacted budget means that the government will run on the previous year’s fiscal budget 

The Palace, however, reassured the public that this would not disrupt government services. 

“The public is assured that a brief period under a reenacted budget will not disrupt government operations. This deliberate review safeguards fiscal discipline and ensures that taxpayers’ hard-earned money is spent wisely and translated into benefits for the Filipino people,” Recto said. 

The 2026 budget is set to be the most delayed budget during the Marcos administration, with it being the first one to trigger a reenacted budget. 

The pending budget comes at the heels of the most controversial corruption scandal of the administration, where billions are suspected of being stolen by lawmakers, officials and contractors in a kickback scheme at the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH). 

The systemic thievery is believed to have been embedded into the budget, prompting lawmakers to livestream the bicameral conference committee meetings. 

The bicam, typically held behind closed doors and lasting two days, lasted four days after lawmakers reached a deadlock over the DPWH budget.