Sen. Jinggoy Estrada Withdraws from being Member of Bicam Conference Committee
BICAM – Senator Jinggoy Estrada withdrew from being part of the bicameral conference committee amid the 2026 budget process.
Both the House of Representatives and the Senate are currently on the process of preparing for the bicameral conference committee in the pursuit to pass the 2026 national budget. The House was the first to approve the proposed P6.8-trillion proposed 2026 budget.
The House approved the P6.9-trillion proposed budget for 2026 despite the inclusion of the P243-million “unprogrammed funds”. The lower chamber cut the budget for the Office of the Vice President (OVP) as punishment for Vice Pres. Sara Duterte’s non-appearance at the hearing.
The House slashed the budget for Vice Pres. Sara Duterte’s office by P156 million for snubbing the hearings. The Vice President did not appear at the inquiry after she set a condition to only show up if the chamber will also mandate the appearance of Pres. Bongbong Marcos to defend the budget sought by his office.
While there was a cut in the budget for the Office of the Vice President in 2026, the Senate swiftly approved the increased P889-million budget for Vice Pres. Sara Duterte’s office. Currently, both the House and the Senate are preparing for the bicam — which won’t include Sen. Jinggoy Estrada as one of the members.
Based on a post of News5 on social media, Sen. Jinggoy Estrada withdrew from being part of the bicam as announced by Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri. It is during the bicam that the differences in the provisions of the proposed budget for the country are resolved.
No reason for the decision of Sen. Jinggoy Estrada to withdraw from being part of the bicam was mentioned. Supposedly, Estrada will join the following senators in the committee:
- Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian
- Sen. JV Ejercito
- Sen. Loren Legarda
- Sen. Kiko Pangilinan
- Sen. Mark Villar
- Sen. Pia Cayetano
- Sen. Erwin Tulfo
- Sen. Camille Villar
- Sen. Bato dela Rosa
- Sen. Bong Go
- Sen. Imee Marcos
Based on the post, the lawmakers target to ratify the proposed budget for 2026 by December 22. After it, the proposed budget agreed during the bicam will be brought to Pres. Bongbong Marcos before the year ends. Previously, Marcos Jr. claimed that the country will have savings from the 2026 national budget.