Rowegie Abanto

Lawmakers, government leaders, and diplomats listen to the fourth annual State of the Nation Address of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. at the House of Representatives in Quezon City on July 28, 2025. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News

Lawmakers, government leaders, and diplomats listen to the fourth annual State of the Nation Address of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. at the House of Representatives in Quezon City on July 28, 2025.
Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News

Article (news)

SONA 2025

ABS-CBN News

<p>MANILA — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. should stop Congress from holding executive or secret sessions ahead of the expected livestreaming of the bicam or bicameral conference discussions into the 2026 national budget, a group said Friday.</p><p>Marcos on Wednesday said <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/10/15/marcos-jr-wants-livestreamed-bicam-deliberations-for-2026-budget-1737">he had the agreement of Congress leaders to livestream</a> the historically secretive proceedings of the bicameral conference committee, which is expected to reconcile the differing versions of the 2026 national budget of the House and the Senate.</p><p>The President&#x27;s move came after some lawmakers and civil society groups called on Congress to make the bicam open to the public by livestreaming the meeting of select members of both chambers.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/10/15/diokno-wants-to-open-bicam-proceedings-to-avert-budget-insertions-1454">&#x27;That practice must stop&#x27;: Diokno wants to open bicam proceedings to avert budget insertions</a></div><p>Congressional hearings revealed that budget insertions, allegedly proposed during bicam sessions, were instrumental in a pay-off scheme where billions of pesos worth of funds for flood relief programs had supposedly been pocketed.</p><p>In a statement, Social Watch Philippines, which has long advocated for making bicam meetings open to the public, said that Marcos should order Congress to &quot;limit bicam sessions to resolving differences between the House and Senate versions of the budget.&quot;</p><p>It warned that the bicam &quot;has gained a reputation as a &#x27;third chamber&#x27; where new budget items are inserted without prior deliberation.&quot;</p><p>&quot;Public transparency in matters of public interest must not be covered by executive session privileges,&quot; Jessica Reyes-Cantos, the group&#x27;s co-convenor, said in the statement.</p><p>&quot;Budget amendments and insertions should be subject to public scrutiny,&quot; Cantos said.</p><p>ACT Teachers party-list Rep. Antonio <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/10/17/lawmaker-says-live-bicam-meetings-may-lead-to-performance-not-transparency-1009">Tinio on Friday also warned</a> that some members of the bicam could still make amendments to the expenditure program that had been discussed out of public knowledge.</p><p>&quot;Our fear is that what we will get is a performance with the amendments agreed upon behind the scenes,&quot; Tinio said.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>GROUP TO MARCOS: CERTIFY AS URGENT MEASURES TO &#x27;FULLY OPEN BICAM&#x27;</strong></div><p>While Social Watch welcomes the development that would make budget deliberations more transparent, it called on Marcos &quot;to take stronger action to ensure real transparency in the budget process.&quot;</p><p>The budget watchdog said genuine transparency in the budget process requires more than just livestreaming it. </p><p>&quot;The President should urgently certify legislative measures that institutionalize openness in the budget bicam and throughout the entire budget process,&quot; Cantos said.</p><p>Social Watch urged the passage and implementation of House Joint Resolution No. 2 and Senate Joint Resolution No. 1 that seek to establish mechanisms for a &quot;fully open bicam.&quot;</p><p>It also wanted the bicam to include the names of lawmakers and their corresponding amendments in both the House and Senate versions of the national budget as well as in the final bicam report.</p><p>The bicam should also adopt House Concurrent Resolution No. 5 that mandates public access to budget documents such as briefing transcripts, committee reports, and journals, it said.</p><p>Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, chair of the Senate Committee on Finance, said the <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/10/17/gatchalian-disagrees-with-house-cut-of-ovp-budget-1847">Senate is waiting for the House to approve its version</a> of the concurrent resolution allowing the livestreaming of the bicameral proceedings. </p><div><strong>— With reports from RG Cruz and Marilyn Cahatol, ABS-CBN News</strong></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/A_UsDuMOcBk?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. should stop Congress from holding executive or secret sessions ahead of the expected livestreaming of the bicam or bicameral conference discussions into the 2026 national budget, a group said Friday.</p>

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. should stop Congress from holding executive or secret sessions ahead of the expected livestreaming of the bicam or bicameral conference discussions into the 2026 national budget, a group said Friday.

Marcos urged to stop Congress from holding secret sessions ahead of livestreamed bicam

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Marcos urged to stop Congress from holding secret sessions ahead of livestreamed bicam

Rowegie Abanto,

ABS-CBN News

Published Oct 17, 2025 10:12 PM PHT

|

Updated Oct 17, 2025 10:32 PM PHT

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Open Bicam

Social Watch Philippines

Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

Bicam

Senate

House

National Budget

2026 National Budget

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