Palace: Marcos won’t sit in bicam budget meetings
Photo taken in December 2024 shows President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. after he signed the P6.326 trillion national budget for 2025, or the General Appropriations Act for 2025 in a ceremony in Malacañang. (INQUIRER/ MARIANNE BERMUDEZ)
MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang on Thursday clarified that President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. will not literally sit or be physically present at the 2026 budget deliberations but will instead pay close attention to next year’s budget.
Palace Press Officer Claire Castro made this clarification amid support from and opposition by some senators regarding Marcos’ participation as an observer in the bicameral budget deliberations on the 2026 budget.
“Literally, he will not definitely sit during the Bicam meeting; this is just an expression to show to the people that he will keep an eye on the national budget for 2026,” Castro said.
“So, it should be at least based on the priorities of the government. The budget should be based on the priorities of the government and it should prioritize the projects of the government,” she added.
On Wednesday, Sen. Risa Hontiveros stressed that Marcos cannot and should not dip his toes into the budget deliberations.
READ: Marcos can’t sit in bicam budget meetings, says Hontiveros
“Even if the President is willing, he cannot and should not. The Constitution does not allow that. The power of the purse is wielded by Congress and Congress alone, not the executive—not any member of the executive, not even the chief executive,” Hontiveros said partly in Filipino at the Kapihan sa Senado forum.
“It’s enough that the executive sends the national expenditure program to the House of Representatives. From then on, it’s in the legislature’s hands and in our hands alone,” she added.
READ: Marcos closely monitoring 2026 budget, says DBM chief
This stemmed from Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman’s statement saying that if Marcos’ presence is needed, he would sit down with the bicameral conference committee and participate in the process.
Senator-elect Panfilo Lacson, meanwhile, backed the possibility of Marcos’ attendance in the bicameral process.
He said it would “send a strong signal to Congress not to make a mockery of our role in the budget process.”
