Rowegie Abanto

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. receives a copy of the Fiscal Year 2026 National Expenditure Program (NEP) and the President’s Budget Message from Budget and Management Secretary Amenah Pangandaman during a ceremonial turnover at Malacañan Palace on Tuesday, August 12, 2025. Noel B. Pabalate, PPA Pool



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DBM can submit errata, senators say

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1756951629379175672070416220250812-marcos-2026-budget-PPA1 (1).webp" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" spellcheck="false" style="text-align:left">President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. receives a copy of the Fiscal Year 2026 National Expenditure Program (NEP) and the President’s Budget Message from Budget and Management Secretary Amenah Pangandaman during a ceremonial turnover at Malacañan Palace on Tuesday, August 12, 2025. <em>Noel B. Pabalate, PPA Pool</em></span></span></span></div><p>MANILA — The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) can submit errata or corrections to the National Expenditure Program (NEP) instead of Congress returning the proposed budget for its questionable entries, senators said Thursday.</p><p>On Wednesday, House leaders said they were returning the NEP, which would be the basis for the budget bill for 2026, to the DBM because they &quot;do not know how to deal with it.&quot;</p><p>They said the decision was made at a &quot;very lengthy&quot; party leaders&#x27; meeting, House Deputy Speaker Ronaldo Puno of Antipolo said, adding that they would recommend that House Speaker Martin Romualdez send the document back.</p><p>Puno earlier flagged the NEP for allegedly having allocations for infrastructure projects that had already been completed.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/9/3/house-leaders-to-send-back-poorly-constructed-national-budget-proposal-1640">House leaders to send back ‘poorly constructed’ national budget proposal</a></div><p>For Senators Panfilo Lacson and Risa Hontiveros, however, the DBM can instead submit to Congress the errata of its proposed budget.</p><p>In a statement, Lacson said the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) could submit errata sheets through the DBM for Congress&#x27;s consideration.</p><p>&quot;Congress cannot return the NEP to Malacañang since it is only a budget proposal, not an Enrolled Bill for approval or line-item veto by the President. However, the DPWH through the DBM may submit errata sheets but it is up to Congress to adopt such &#x27;errata&#x27; or not,&quot; Lacson said in a post on X.</p><p>Hontiveros shared the same opinion as Lacson, saying the DBM&#x27;s submission of errata on the NEP could help prevent disruptions to the budget process.</p><p>She told ANC that the DBM still had time to submit corrections, with the Senate deliberation on the DPWH budget was slated for late October.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/9/1/pangandaman-frustrated-over-alleged-insertions-in-2026-proposed-budget-1800">Pangandaman frustrated over alleged insertions in 2026 proposed budget</a></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>&#x27;VERY TIGHT SCHEDULE&#x27;</strong></div><div><br/></div><p>Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, who chairs the Senate Finance Committee, agreed that submitting errata or amendments to the NEP could be an option to cure the supposed irregularities in the budget proposal.</p><p>&quot;&#x27;Yung dalawa ang puwedeng gawin para tuloy-tuloy lang &#x27;yung paghe-hearing at hindi made-delay ‘yung budget,&quot; Gatchalian told DZMM.</p><p>&quot;Very tight ang schedule, &#x27;yun ang aking agam-agam, ‘yung schedule, kasi nga gusto natin before end of the year mapirmahan na ‘yan (national budget), kung hindi magkakaroon tayo ng reenacted budget,&quot; he said.</p><p>Gatchalian flagged questionable entries in the proposed 2026 budget of the DPWH in the NEP during a committee hearing on Tuesday.</p><p>The supposed &quot;red flags&quot; Gatchalian cited included projects with no station numbers, identical amounts, phased allocations, rounded figures, coded names, and even the reappearance of 2025-funded projects.</p><p>The Palace announced Wednesday that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. had ordered a review of the portion of the NEP on the budget for the DPWH, the agency at the center of recent controversies on alleged corruption in flood control and other infrastructure projects.</p><p>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.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>DBM SAYS READY TO COOPERATE WITH CONGRESS</strong></div><div><br/></div><p>In a statement, DBM Secretary Amenah Pangandaman said the executive department was ready to cooperate with Congress to iron out questionable items in the P6.79 trillion budget proposal for 2026, particularly those projects listed under the DPWH.</p><p>Pangandaman issued the statement after concerns arose about the possibility of a reenacted budget. </p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/9/4/-basurang-trabaho-ang-2026-nep-puno-0903">&#x27;Basurang trabaho&#x27; ang 2026 NEP - Puno</a></div><p>&quot;Siguro ang importante dito is that the Executive is very much willing to work with the Congress to make sure na maayos &#x27;yung ating budget at magkaroon tayo ng budget. Again, &#x27;pag wala kang budget, wala kang maipo-provide sa mga kababayan natin. Mas masakit &#x27;yun,&quot; Pangandaman said in a press conference on Wednesday. </p><p>She said that a reenacted budget could cause an economic downturn, noting that the national budget has a big contribution to the economy. </p><p>&quot;Ayaw naman natin na mawala &#x27;yun,&quot; she said.</p><p>The DBM and the DPWH set a <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/9/3/dpwh-dbm-set-2-week-deadline-to-review-dpwh-budget-2311">two-week</a> deadline for their review of the public works department&#x27;s budget. </p><div><strong>— With a report from Agatha Gregorio, ABS-CBN News</strong></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO:</strong></div><div><strong></strong><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/_XGZzrlX_Kc?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) can submit errata or corrections on the National Expenditure Program (NEP) instead of Congress returning the proposed budget for its questionable entries, senators said Thursday.</p>

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) can submit errata or corrections on the National Expenditure Program (NEP) instead of Congress returning the proposed budget for its questionable entries, senators said Thursday.

Return budget proposal to Palace? DBM can submit errata instead, senators say

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Return budget proposal to Palace? DBM can submit errata instead, senators say

Rowegie Abanto,

ABS-CBN News

Published September 04, 2025 11:13 AM PHT

Read More:

Amenah Pangandaman

2026 budget

House of Representatives

Panfilo Lacson

Risa Hontiveros

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