Marcos can’t sit in bicam budget meetings, says Hontiveros

Sen. Risa Hontiveros fields questions from members of the media during the Kapihan sa Senado forum on Wednesday, May 21, 2025, at the Senate building in Pasay City. (Noy Morcoso/INQUIRER.net)

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. cannot, and should not, dip his toes in the 2026 budget deliberations, said Sen. Risa Hontiveros on Wednesday.

“Even if the President is willing, he cannot and should not. The Constitution does not allow that. The power of the purse is wielded by Congress and Congress alone, not the executive—not any member of the executive, not even the chief executive,” Hontiveros said partly in Filipino at the Kapihan sa Senado forum.

“It’s enough that the executive sends the national expenditure program to the House of Representatives. From then on, it’s in the legislature’s hands and in our hands alone,” she added. 

According to the opposition lawmaker, the Office of the President would once again have a role after Congress came up with a consolidated bicameral conference committee report on the proposed budget. 

With this, the President would have the choice to sign the budget or apply a line-item veto. 

“The president has no role to be an observer in the bicam. If they push for it, they might encounter problems. They might get sued. Right? They are not yet even out of the woods when it comes to the present budget woes, and yet they would add another problem in the 2026 budget? I think it’s wrong,” she pointed out.

Earlier, Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman said that as soon as the 2025 national budget was finalized, Marcos already had instructions on the funding for next year.

Pangandaman particularly noted that if the President’s presence is needed, he would sit down with the bicameral conference committee and sit in the bicam process.

Marikina 2nd District Rep. Stella Quimbo earlier confirmed that there were blank items in the bicameral conference committee report on the 2025 national budget, but she clarified these were only for the final computation of the amendments made.

In relation to this, Davao Rep. Isidro Ungab and former executive secretary Vic Rodriguez filed a petition before the Supreme Court, specifically questioning the alleged blank items in the 2025 budget plan. /gsg/abc