Jonathan Frederic De Santos

House leaders hold a press briefing on September 3, 2025. Agatha Gregorio, ABS-CBN News

Article (news)

Agatha Gregorio

ABS-CBN News

MANILA (2nd UPDATE) -- House leaders on Wednesday said they were returning the National Expenditure Program, which would be the basis for the budget bill for 2026, to the Department of Budget and Management because they &quot;do not know how to deal with it.&quot;They said the decision was made at a &quot;very lengthy&quot; party leaders&#x27; meeting, according to House Deputy Speaker Ronaldo Puno of Antipolo, and that they would recommend that House Speaker Martin Romualdez send the document backPuno had earlier flagged the NEP for allegedly having allocations for infrastructure projects that had already been completed.Puno and other lawmakers present during a press conference on Wednesday added, they supposedly no longer want to be blamed for problems in the budget.&quot;We have decided as a group to recommend the return of the 2026 national budget to the DBM because we do not know how to deal with it. We have to practically redo the entire submission to us. And we do not want to be suspected of any untoward action,&quot; Puno said.Puno also discussed &quot;suspicious&quot; flood control projects and issues in district budgets.&quot;As you know last week or even earlier, we went to you and explained to you our misgivings about the 2026 budget with respect to the Department of Public Works– how the district budgets all over the country were mangled and how really serious, serious questions needed to be raised about those budget entries,&quot; Puno said.&quot;I frankly was shocked because from 2004 when I was here, a lot of things have apparently happened. So you know, like flood control projects in tens of billions of pesos were suspicious. There were double entries. There were missing entries, suddenly emerging entries. There were double appropriations. There were oversized lump sum, lump sum nationwide allocations,&quot; Puno added.After going over other agencies’ budgets, Puno said more concerns were raised, leading to the aforementioned recommendation.Earlier in the day, the Palace announced President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. had ordered a review of the portion of the NEP on the budget for the Department of Public Works and Highways, the agency at the center of recent controversies on alleged corruption in flood control and other infrastructure projects.The NEP, which the DBM prepares from agency proposals, is the basis for the General Appropriations Bill that emanates from the House and that both houses of Congress hold hearings on before passage.<div><a class="fr-green" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/9/3/marcos-orders-sweeping-review-of-dpwh-budget-under-nep-1157">Marcos orders sweeping review of DPWH budget under NEP</a></div><div> </div><div>HOUSE PARTY LEADERS URGE MEMBERS NOT TO ATTEND BUDGET HEARINGS</div>In line with their recommendation, House party leaders are also asking their members to &quot;refrain from any further participation&quot; in other budget hearings until the matter is resolved.When asked how this would work for future meetings on the budget given the need for a quorum, Puno answered, &quot;We are not trying to be difficult. Hindi kami nanggugulo dito. Ang problema namin talaga is ayaw namin tanggapin itong basurang trabaho. Tapos kami na naman ang masisisi, whether if we solve it, sasabihin na rinealign namin &#x27;yung buong budget… If we don&#x27;t touch it, parang complicit na kami sa lahat ng kalokohan na nakikita namin.&quot;He also said the House cannot keep covering up for a supposedly &quot;poorly constructed budget.&quot; &quot;There&#x27;s no way we&#x27;re taking the heat for that indefinitely,&quot; Puno added.<div><a class="fr-green" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/8/30/-ang-sama-talaga-puno-says-2026-nep-includes-proposed-funds-for-completed-infra-projects-0013">&#x27;Ang sama talaga&#x27;: Puno says 2026 NEP includes proposed funds for completed infra projects</a></div>Puno added, they do not want to seem as though they are not accepting the DBM&#x27;s recommendations nor do they want to be accused of amending a huge portion of the NEP.&quot;We don&#x27;t want it to appear that we are not accepting the rightful recommendations of the DBM. And on the other hand, we do not want to be accused of replacing or amending by errata a huge portion of the national expenditure program that they have submitted to us,&quot; Puno added.House Deputy Speaker Janette Garin also brought up the possibility of cancelling the break of Congress starting in October to discuss the budget.Concerns over delays in passing the budget were discussed during the press conference prior to this.&quot;I believe with the input of all party leaders, pwede naman i-cancel na &#x27;yung break ng Kongreso at wala nang break tuloy-tuloy na. Maski abutan tayo ng pasko, hanggang New Year... We have a one month break– October 10 until November 11. We can forego of that para sa bayan. Mas masakit &#x27;yung pipilitin natin &#x27;yung isang budget himayin. Kasi ngayon ang nangyayari, we cannot totally exercise our oversight powers kasi sa DPWH nalang ang daming singit. At &#x27;yung singit na ito, walang umaamin kanino nanggaling,&quot; Garin said.<script data-wid="auto" type="text/javascript" src="https://content.viralize.tv/display/?zid=AAFz8gWM8iRADsJr&amp;cid=ABgBK1cbDS22t5GS"></script>

House Deputy Speaker Ronaldo Puno of Antipolo had earlier flagged the NEP for allegedly having allocations for infrastructure projects that had already been completed.

House Deputy Speaker Ronaldo Puno of Antipolo had earlier flagged the NEP for allegedly having allocations for infrastructure projects that had already been completed.

House leaders to send back ‘poorly constructed’ national budget proposal

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House leaders to send back ‘poorly constructed’ national budget proposal

Agatha Gregorio,

ABS-CBN News

Published Sep 03, 2025 04:40 PM PHT

|

Updated Sep 03, 2025 09:54 PM PHT

Read More:

House of Representatives

Department of Budget and Management

National Expenditure Program

2026 budget

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