MANILA — Senator Loren Legarda has expressed full support for the formation and regular activation of a Joint Congressional Oversight Committee on Public Expenditures, calling it a vital reform to ensure that every peso in the national budget is spent with integrity, transparency, and in line with the country’s development priorities.

Legarda said the joint oversight body of the Senate and the House of Representatives—already provided for under the 2026 General Appropriations Act (GAA) and previous GAAs—should be formally activated and made to function regularly to fully carry out its mandate.

“This oversight committee is not about micromanaging agencies. It will be created so that funds meant for hospitals, classrooms, farms, and disaster resilience do not get lost in delays, waste, or misuse,” Legarda said.

She warned that chronic underspending, weak project design, and implementation leakages directly result in unfinished roads, overcrowded hospitals, and communities left vulnerable to disasters.

“Every time an agency sits on its budget or fails to implement it properly, it translates to a family waiting longer for a health center, a student losing a chance at quality education, a farmer still without irrigation,” she added.

Legarda stressed that idle appropriations weaken government performance and have real consequences for citizens awaiting basic services.

“Funds that remain idle are not savings. They represent targets not achieved, services delayed, and opportunities lost,” she said, noting that underspending driven by weak expenditure and procurement capacity undermines public program delivery.

The four-term senator also cautioned that unused budgets prevent the realignment of funds to agencies with stronger implementation records and proven impact.

“When budgets are unused, resources that could have been realigned to agencies with stronger implementation records remain locked in underperforming programs. This distorts efficient resource allocation and undermines equity in public spending,” she said.

Legarda said a strong oversight committee would compel agencies to address bottlenecks early and demonstrate that appropriations are being translated into tangible results on the ground.

With the signing of the ₱6.793 trillion national budget for 2026, she emphasized that year-round monitoring is necessary to strengthen the credibility of the government’s spending program and protect investments in health, education, livelihoods, and climate and disaster resilience.

“Responsible and integrity-driven budgeting does not end when the President signs the GAA,” Legarda said. “Congress has a duty to follow implementation from line item to last mile to ensure that the budget is properly carried out in every barangay.”

Backing Senator Sherwin Gatchalian’s call to scrutinize underspending and delayed projects, Legarda said the oversight body should prioritize sectors where inefficiencies most affect ordinary Filipinos.

“We should start where the stakes are highest: hospitals operating beyond capacity, irrigation systems farmers have waited on for years, and classrooms and local infrastructure that remain on paper,” she said.

“When people clearly see how every project is planned, funded, and completed, they gain confidence that public office is a public trust and that their taxes are working for their communities,” Legarda added.