Sen. Ping Lacson Speaks on 2026 Proposed Budget of Marcos Admin
PING LACSON – The Senator proposed an “experiment” by adopting the P6.79-trillion proposed budget of the Marcos administration for 2026 in full.
The Senate and the House of Representatives are deliberating the proposed budget of the Marcos admin for 2026. The National Expenditure Program or NEP crafted by the executive department requires a P6.79-trillion budget for next year.
Out of the P6.79-trillion proposed budget for 2026, the office of Pres. Bongbong Marcos is proposed to be given P27.362 billion. Undeniably, it is really way bigger compared to the 2025 budget granted for Marcos Jr.’s office this year which was at P15.9 billion.
Following the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) turning over the NEP of the 2026 proposed budget to the House of Representatives, Pres. Bongbong Marcos previously claimed that the Philippines can be a leader among the nations, thus, he called on the Congress to “swiftly enact” the proposed budget for next year.
According to Marcos Jr., the country is on the tracks with regards to its agenda for prosperity. He also revealed the proposed budget for the different key departments in the government.
Here are the proposed budget for the different key departments in the government for 2026:
- Department of Education (DepEd) — P928.5 billion
- Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) — P881.3 billion
- Department of Health (DOH) — P320.5 billion
- Department of National Defense (DND) — P299.3 billion
- Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) — P287.5 billion
- Department of Agriculture (DA) — P239.2 billion
- Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) — P227.0 billion
- Department of Transportation (DOTr) — P197.3 billion
- Judiciary Department — P67.9 billion
- Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) — P55.2 billion
With regards to the confidential and intelligence funds request for 2026, the office of Pres. Bongbong Marcos is poised to get the lion’s share in the proposed confidential and intel funds for next year. Out of the P10.77 billion proposed CIF for 2026, the OP gets the lion’s share at P4.5 billion. The other recipients of the proposed CIF are the following:
- Department of National Defense — P1.848 billion CIF
- Other executive offices including the Anti-Money Laundering Council, National Security Council, and the Philippine National Police — P2.292 billion CIF
Amid the budget deliberations, Sen. Ping Lacson proposed an experiment. Based on a report on ABS-CBN News, the Senator who is part of the minority group proposed for the full adoption of the P6.79-trillion proposed budget for 2026.
Sen. Ping Lacson pushed for the full adoption of the National Expenditure Program crafted by the executive department. Based on the report, the Senator said if the full NEP will be adopted, if there will be problems, it will be the liability of the executive department.
“For a change, why not have the Senate adopt the NEP so that if there will be problems in implementing projects in 2026, it will be on the executive department,” the lawmaker said.
Furthermore, Sen. Ping Lacson expressed his confidence that the items that are in the NEP for the 2026 proposed budget were studied carefully. Based on the report, the Senator claimed that both the Senate and the House of Representatives may adopt the 2026 proposed budget and if the experiment fails, they can return to the re-alignment.
“This will be a one-year experiment. If it fails, we go back to the realignment,” Lacson said.
When the budget deliberation began, House Speaker Martin Romualdez assured the public that they will scrutinize the proposed 2026 budget to ensure that every Peso will be meaningful and beneficial for the Filipinos. However, countless Filipinos were surprised when the proposed budget for the House of Representatives in 2026 is cut by P16.8 billion.