MANILA – Senator Rodante D. Marcoleta expressed full support for the Senate’s push to promote transparency and accountability in the deliberations of the 2026 General Appropriations Bill (GAB), but urged that these principles be observed by both chambers of Congress at all stages of the budget process.

In his interpellation of Senator Sherwin T. Gatchalian, sponsor of Concurrent Resolution No. 4, Marcoleta recounted how, as a member of the House of Representatives in the 19th Congress, he received a copy of the approved bicameral conference committee report on the P6.532 trillion proposed budget for 2025 containing “12-13 pages” in the special provisions section with 28 blank budget items.

“I also inquired with the office of the (House) Secretary General for this information, but I wasn’t given access to records, including a copy of the enrolled bill that was submitted to Malacañang,” Marcoleta said in Filipino.

He noted that while the enrolled bill contained complete details, “the public never knew the whole story, as to who filled up, and what is supposed to be filled up in all those material particulars.”

Since Concurrent Resolution No. 4 seeks to allow public participation in crafting the budget, Marcoleta questioned how this could be achieved if even lawmakers were not assured full access to critical information.

He also cited an incident from last year’s House plenary deliberations when he was barred by colleagues from asking questions on the general principles of the proposed 2025 GAB.

“We have not yet, for example, enacted the Freedom of Information Bill. And of course there is a twin bill in that, the Right of Reply. We may be raising people’s expectations unnecessarily by citing the Constitution, [including the] people’s right to information, especially on the fields of transactions,” he warned.

Gatchalian acknowledged hearing about the blank items in last year’s bicameral report and assured Marcoleta it would not happen during his tenure as Senate finance committee chair.

“In fact, I raised that to our technical team here in the Senate; that those things should not happen in the 2026 budget. Not under my watch that the members will be given blank materials to sign,” he said.

The 2025 national budget, initially pegged at P6.352 trillion, was later reduced to P6.326 trillion after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. vetoed P194 billion worth of provisions deemed inconsistent with his administration’s priority programs.