# House People's Budget Review with Civil Society Organizations Part 2 - September 8, 2026 — Source-Linked Digest

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXEPm6BTn9A

AI-assisted working draft. AI can make errors. Always verify consequential interpretations and wording against the cited transcript and official video.

## At a glance

- **Opening remarks:** House leaders framed civil-society participation across the budget cycle and described the consultation format before representatives took the floor.

- **Civil-society questions and proposals:** Representatives raised sector and process concerns spanning agriculture and food security, education and social services, transport and road safety, local-fund safeguards, community priorities, disclosure, and earlier access to budget discussions.

- **Panel replies:** House members explained review and amendment procedures, acknowledged missed or unclear engagement, and offered referrals, follow-up, or consideration of proposals. Expressions of support and proposed changes remained distinct from approved appropriations.

- **Afternoon participation framework:** The presentation discussed a proposed Philippine Budgeting Code, local-to-national planning, outcome measures, public access to budget information, and ways to make civil-society participation more consistent.

- **Closing commitments:** House members said they would circulate the draft Budget Code for CSO comments, accept questions for later stages, and strengthen performance information and channels for tracking public recommendations.

Reading note: This was a civil-society budget consultation, not an agency presentation or agency-by-agency NEP/request comparison. The overview preserves the distinction between proposals, reported support, panel commitments, and adopted actions. Claims about bill status remain attributed to the speakers, and accepted source limitations remain documented in the frozen review notes.

## Panel opening statements

### Participation throughout the budget cycle

Senior Vice Chair Rep. Albert S. Garcia framed civil-society participation as a way to improve spending priorities, accountability, and public monitoring. He urged CSOs to engage at three points: agency-level budget partnership agreements, local bottom-up budgeting, and citizens’ participatory audits. Citing the 2025 Open Budgeting Survey, he said the Philippines’ participation score was 37 and remained below the level considered adequate. He connected these roles to the proposed Philippine Budgeting Code and called for a transparent, participatory budget responsive to public needs.

[00:00:39 · asr-000004](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-000004) · [00:01:26 · asr-000010](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-000010) · [00:02:04 · asr-000014](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-000014) · [00:02:28 · asr-000018](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-000018) · [00:02:54 · asr-000019](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-000019) · [00:03:10 · asr-000022](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-000022)

### Prior CSO concerns and House responses

Garcia said the participation process was being continued after its first implementation the previous year and that the committee was learning while pursuing further reforms and legislation. He summarized prior CSO concerns about poverty and inequality, agricultural investment, defense spending relative to social sectors, confidential funds, limited public participation, and funding for the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC). In his retrospective account of amendments carried largely into the 2026 General Appropriations Act, he described Budget Amendment Review Subcommittee (BARC) additions of ₱56,637,276,000 for education, ₱92,575,023,000 for health, and ₱53,754,678,000 for agriculture, and said the committee would repeat the process. Each amount is tied to Garcia’s number-bearing turn; the corresponding sector is identified in the adjacent turns. He also said the Department of Health (DOH) had been sent CSO concerns for answers before plenary and could be raised in floor deliberations if unresolved.

[00:05:42 · asr-000071](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-000071) · [00:06:56 · asr-000088](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-000088) · [00:07:08 · asr-000090](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-000090) · [00:07:20 · asr-000093](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-000093) · [00:09:44 · asr-000142](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-000142) · [00:09:51 · asr-000146](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-000146) · [00:07:50 · asr-000099](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-000099) · [00:09:09 · asr-000125](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-000125)

### Invitation to participate and respond

Garcia said committee vice chairs were present to address concerns within their portfolios. He invited CSOs to engage and said the committee was there to listen and improve the budget process. John Castillo then set out the session format: CSOs would present substantive comments on the 2027 National Budget, followed by panelist responses, with a later discussion on improving participation procedures. Written submissions could be considered in continuing discussion and referred for feedback.

[00:10:20 · asr-000160](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-000160) · [00:10:41 · asr-000171](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-000171) · [00:16:03 · asr-000273](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-000273) · [00:17:12 · asr-000280](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-000280) · [00:17:27 · asr-000283](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-000283) · [00:17:48 · asr-000285](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-000285) · [00:18:39 · asr-000293](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-000293)

## Philippine Association of Agriculturists NCR Chapter President Al Christian R. Hilario

### Agriculturists’ salary alignment and food-security priorities

Al Christian R. Hilario, of the Philippine Association of Agriculturists, Inc., said the group joined to observe and help prioritize agriculture in the 2027 budget. He called for implementation of the Philippine Agriculturalist Act (Republic Act No. 12215), including the government salary-grade adjustment for agriculturists that he said remained unimplemented, and alignment of private-sector agriculturists’ pay. He also urged investment in agro-environmental programs and other projects, and an aligned, adequately funded food-security plan to reduce hunger and malnutrition. He said agencies had given no definite response on the salary concern.

[00:19:12 · asr-000298](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-000298) · [00:19:26 · asr-000299](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-000299) · [00:20:14 · asr-000311](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-000311)

### Agriculture committee response on performance, recovery and infrastructure

Rep. Anna York P. Bondoc, M.D. praised agriculture and fisheries performance and said agriculturists deserved the proper salary grade. She reported 2.6% growth, described the ₱20-per-kilo rice program as operating through regional caravans but not yet fully implemented, and said the Department of Agriculture (DA) had received a ₱40 billion increase for 2026, much of which remained unimplemented, particularly farm-to-market roads, after DBM released necessary papers two weeks earlier. She connected recovery from flooding and food security to infrastructure, transport links, food hubs, and storage. In response to a question about pest management in Negros, she offered to submit the local details for review rather than give them orally.

[00:26:15 · asr-000369](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-000369) · [00:26:39 · asr-000374](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-000374) · [00:26:47 · asr-000376](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-000376) · [00:27:12 · asr-000382](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-000382) · [00:28:58 · asr-000410](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-000410)

### Include CSOs earlier in budget discussions

Al Christian R. Hilario of the Philippine Association of Agriculturists, Inc. proposed that CSOs be included at the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) stage the following year, so they could raise concerns while the budget was being formulated and receive explanations from officials responsible for budget matters. Rep. Arnie B. Fuentebella welcomed timely questions, saying the Appropriations Committee could read them and obtain answers. John Castillo said the DBCC process was a useful subject to examine because budget development begins there, while the current review examined the National Expenditure Program (NEP) after submission and evaluation. Castillo also asked CSOs to send position papers or supporting references formally to the Task Force on People's Participation for consideration.

[01:57:41 · asr-002611](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-002611) · [01:58:02 · asr-002621](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-002621) · [01:58:30 · asr-002630](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-002630)

## CODE-NGO Project Coordinator Timothy Salomon

### Land acquisition, distribution and due process

Salomon questioned the Department of Agrarian Reform’s land-acquisition and distribution targets. He contrasted the 750,000-hectare individual-titling target with the much smaller land-acquisition and distribution target. He compared the 20,000-hectare acquisition and distribution target with an approximately 580,000-hectare balance and challenged why distribution remained unfinished, citing notices of coverage last issued in June 2014 and farmers waiting through the extended process. He said the Department’s ₱100 million request would fund acquisition of only 2,000 hectares and argued that the request was inadequate to carry out its mandate. He also questioned removing problematic landholdings from the list, asking whether removals were legal and what validation and due-process protections applied to affected farmers. In the panel response, Bondoc said the committee’s explanation was that the ₱100 million request was constrained by the Department of Budget and Management’s ceiling; she suggested the Department and DBM discuss modifications. She acknowledged the land-budget concern and offered to submit the matter for further inspection and share the vice chair’s response, while inviting the issue to be raised in plenary. The response did not state a revised amount or a disposition.

[00:22:23 · asr-000319](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-000319) · [00:23:52 · asr-000336](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-000336) · [00:24:09 · asr-000341](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-000341) · [00:31:11 · asr-000464](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-000464) · [00:32:07 · asr-000493](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-000493)

### Submitted questions and CSO resource-person participation

Salomon said questions had been sent to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) during the DBCC briefing and to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), but that he heard them read only during the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) hearing. He thanked Committee Chair Rep. Mikaela Angela B. Suansing for asking questions he said had been issued from CODE-NGO, and noted that Office of the President (OP) questions were not read after parliamentary courtesy was given and that farmers' agriculture questions were also not asked. He asked why the routing was inconsistent and whether civil-society organizations could serve as resource persons. Fuentebella apologized, saying the Appropriations Committee had not received the questions and that the questions were first made available to them when Chair Suansing raised them; he said the CPBRD should explain why they were not passed along to each agency. Fuentebella explained that budget hearings usually question government agency staff because agencies defend their own budgets, and said he was unsure whether congressional rules permit CSOs to be resource persons. He also said the panel was willing to read CSO questions and have agencies answer them.

[01:40:47 · asr-002256](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-002256) · [01:41:47 · asr-002272](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-002272) · [01:42:10 · asr-002280](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-002280) · [01:43:54 · asr-002308](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-002308)

### Resubmission and plenary follow-up

Bondoc, who identified herself as AGRI vice chair, said she had not been made aware of the submitted questions. She invited the group to resubmit them so she could forward them to the secretary for a reason and answer, and said further briefings and the plenary offered opportunities for questions. Fuentebella said questions omitted from the committee could still be raised in plenary, committed that they would provide the questions and said they would make sure the omission did not happen again. He called it an honest mistake; the substantive agency questions remained for follow-up.

[01:46:06 · asr-002356](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-002356) · [01:46:54 · asr-002380](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-002380) · [01:47:18 · asr-002391](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-002391) · [01:47:58 · asr-002411](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-002411)

## CODE-NGO Executive Director Atty. Doris Ramirez

### People's budget tests and Local Government Support Fund safeguards

Caucus of Development NGO Networks (CODE-NGO) Executive Director Atty. Doris Ramirez thanked the House of Representatives and the Congressional Policy and Budget Research Department (CPBRD) for giving civil society organizations a platform. She said a a people's budget should meet three tests: respond to people's needs, let citizens trace where public money goes and what it delivers, and enable participation in consultation, decisions, implementation, monitoring and audit. On the proposed 2027 Local Government Support Fund (LGSF), she said its PHP 53.53 billion included PHP 37.49 billion in financial assistance to local government units (LGUs) under allocation criteria still to be developed; she contrasted this with PHP 1 billion, about 1.7% of the LGSF, expressly covered by participatory-budgeting requirements. She asked Congress to apply objective needs-based criteria, project-level disclosure, documented community consultation and independent citizen monitoring across the full LGSF, and proposed that a portion help LGUs build local civil society organizations' capacity for third-party monitoring. She appealed for funding to equip those organizations to carry out monitoring, arguing that their lack of capacity should not be used to exclude them from participation in the people's budget.

[00:33:13 · asr-000523](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-000523) · [00:34:03 · asr-000548](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-000548) · [00:34:05 · asr-000549](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-000549) · [00:34:08 · asr-000551](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-000551) · [00:34:11 · asr-000552](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-000552) · [00:34:21 · asr-000557](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-000557) · [00:34:22 · asr-000558](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-000558) · [00:34:33 · asr-000563](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-000563) · [00:34:56 · asr-000575](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-000575)

### NTF-ELCAC Barangay Development Program review and safeguards

Ramirez said the proposed 2027 PHP 9.74 billion for support to the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) Barangay Development Program required independent review of why 1,948 barangays were selected and why each received a uniform PHP 5 million allocation. She asked for publication of prior utilization, evaluation of outcomes, and safeguards against political influence, red-tagging or exclusion.

[00:36:14 · asr-000614](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-000614) · [00:36:25 · asr-000619](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-000619) · [00:36:27 · asr-000620](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-000620) · [00:36:30 · asr-000622](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-000622) · [00:36:35 · asr-000624](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-000624)

### Local Government Support Fund safeguards and approval criteria

Responding to Doris Ramirez's earlier questions about the Local Government Support Fund (LGSF), Fuentebella said local governments apply directly through the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) portal, while the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) supervises implementation. He agreed that transparency and safeguards were needed, said civil-society groups could help supervise projects supported through the fund, and said groups should be recognized and registered with their municipality so they could monitor projects. He acknowledged that legislators did not know the Department's approval criteria and proposed asking the Department to clarify them. He supported applying the senior vice chair's meritocracy bill to the LGSF..

[00:48:19 · asr-000971](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-000971) · [00:50:44 · asr-001045](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-001045) · [00:53:42 · asr-001135](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-001135)

### NTF-ELCAC and red-tagging concerns

On red-tagging concerns raised earlier by Doris Ramirez, Fuentebella said he opposed red-tagging but defended the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) as a response to social problems. He argued that roads, schools, water, electricity and livelihoods in remote and coastal communities could address the conditions associated with insurgency. Later, he said civil-society groups could report red-tagging allegations directly to the National Police Commission (NAPOLCOM), which he praised for addressing a backlog of 4,000 cases accumulated over 25 years and reducing it to zero. He described Congress's oversight role and investigation as an avenue if the commission did not act properly..

[00:52:00 · asr-001084](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-001084) · [01:01:29 · asr-001379](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-001379) · [01:01:52 · asr-001389](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-001389) · [01:01:54 · asr-001390](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-001390) · [01:03:38 · asr-001442](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-001442)

### CSO participation in reform working groups and an open bicameral process

Atty. Doris Ramirez, Executive Director of the Caucus of Development NGO Networks (CODE-NGO), welcomed the legislators' commitment to avoid a repeat of past miscommunications and make processes clearer. She said civil-society organizations had participated in a Senate technical working group on proposed budget-reform bills, and asked the House to include CSOs in any working groups it establishes for pending measures, including the meritocracy bill Garcia had discussed. She called technical working groups a concrete way for CSOs to contribute. Speaking for CODE-NGO and its 11 networks nationwide, which she said represented more than 2,000 people's organizations and other entities, Ramirez appealed for an open and transparent bicameral session in 2026 for the 2027 people's budget.

[02:36:19 · asr-003577](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-003577) · [02:36:37 · asr-003586](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-003586) · [02:37:18 · asr-003607](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-003607) · [02:37:25 · asr-003610](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-003610) · [02:37:33 · asr-003614](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-003614)

## People's Budget Coalition Co-convenor Adolfo Jose Montesa

### Fiscal room and basic needs

Adolfo Jose (A.J.) Montesa of the People's Budget Coalition said automatic appropriations and other fixed obligations constrain Congress's room to shape the budget. He cited a PHP 7.2 trillion total, saying only PHP 36 of every PHP 100 was available for Congress to legislate, and pointed to the national tax allotment, debt-interest payments, and automatic appropriations for military and uniformed personnel as pressures on fiscal space. He urged attention to programs meeting people's day-to-day needs amid food, fuel, and electricity price increases. Montesa said food inflation was almost 20%, and argued that despite a 6% overall budget increase, the proposed National Expenditure Program reduced funding for education, skills training, health, health insurance, and agriculture agencies. He asked Congress to use its power of the purse to correct those reductions.

[00:38:00 · asr-000663](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-000663) · [00:38:06 · asr-000666](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-000666) · [00:38:08 · asr-000667](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-000667) · [00:38:54 · asr-000690](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-000690) · [00:39:20 · asr-000703](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-000703) · [00:39:26 · asr-000706](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-000706)

### Safeguards for infrastructure, assistance, and local funding

Montesa said infrastructure, flood control, roads, and bridges matter, while warning that project choices had been politicized in prior years. He urged safeguards requiring proposed infrastructure additions to be supported by transparent, publicly accessible master plans and programs of work. He also called for rules-based, rights-based social protection, saying assistance programs such as MAIFIP, AICS, and TUPAD should not become vehicles for patronage. On the Local Government Support Fund, he said transparency was lacking and raised concern that it could function as an advance election budget. He asked Congress to correct past budget mistakes and restore public trust.

[00:40:02 · asr-000724](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-000724) · [00:40:30 · asr-000738](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-000738) · [00:40:56 · asr-000751](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-000751)

### Formal participation rules and amendment tracking

Montesa welcomed the panel's acknowledgment of a miscommunication and its assurance that questions would be included in deliberations. He proposed formal rules for each budget cycle, such as a House resolution to institutionalize participation, and supported continuing structured rules through the proposed Philippine Budgeting Code, the Cadena bill, and freedom-of-information legislation. For transparency, he asked that BARSc schedules be announced in advance and livestreams continued. He also proposed public tracking of line-item changes through the committee report and third-reading version, using machine-readable Excel files and Unified Accounts Code Structure (UACS) codes so projects could be tracked despite changes in names or titles. He offered civil-society technical support and staffing. 

[01:50:41 · asr-002494](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-002494) · [01:51:50 · asr-002518](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-002518) · [01:52:06 · asr-002524](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-002524) · [01:53:06 · asr-002544](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-002544)

### BARSc timing and agency-origin amendment requirement

Garcia said the suggestions were well taken and would be considered seriously. He explained that questions reaching the vice chairs would be read, and said BARSc and an executive committee meeting would be held before the plenary expected the following week, with BARSc to take place first. Fuentebella clarified that BARSc could not consider an amendment or insertion unless the request originated with the agency; an official letter signed by the agency head was required.

[01:54:24 · asr-002572](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-002572) · [01:56:05 · asr-002586](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-002586) · [01:56:26 · asr-002594](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-002594) · [01:56:48 · asr-002600](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-002600)

### Institutional participation rules and social-sector priorities

Montesa said meaningful people-centered budgeting required people to remain involved in the process, with clear rules institutionalizing civil-society participation beyond the current cycle. He urged the panel to consider the lack of funding he had flagged for education, transportation and agriculture, and criticized past emphasis on ayuda programs and politicized infrastructure projects. He said people's organizations were willing to help and called for clear guidelines on direct engagement as a way to restore trust and support a more rationalized budget free from corruption.

[02:26:28 · asr-003361](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-003361) · [02:27:02 · asr-003378](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-003378) · [02:27:36 · asr-003395](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-003395)

## Makati Business Club Governance and Sustainability Lead Eunice Tanilon

### Fiscal performance and budget credibility

Eunice Tanilon, governance and sustainability lead of the Makati Business Club (MBC), said businesses use the public services and infrastructure the budget funds and that governance is an economic issue. She cited first-half economic growth of 2.6%, which she described as the weakest outside the pandemic since 2009, and said growth would need to reach 4.4% in the second half just to reach the bottom of the relevant range after the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) had lowered its target; she said she hoped the revised target was right. She contrasted government debt at 66% of gross domestic product (GDP) with the fiscal program's 56.6% figure, and the 5.5% deficit with a 3.5% target. Tanilon said she wanted Congress to assess the moving targets against current economic performance, help government catch up on spending already funded, and hold economic managers to the numbers they set.

[00:42:48 · asr-000806](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-000806) · [00:43:00 · asr-000812](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-000812) · [00:43:06 · asr-000815](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-000815) · [00:43:10 · asr-000817](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-000817) · [00:43:24 · asr-000824](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-000824) · [00:43:26 · asr-000825](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-000825) · [00:43:58 · asr-000841](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-000841)

### Transparency before fund release and private-sector participation

Tanilon said MBC was not seeking a larger share of public funds. She asked for transparency before money moves, including publication of criteria, beneficiary lists and scores before release, especially at project level so businesses can assess execution risk and plan. She also called for a freedom of information (FOI) law as part of broader process-transparency reforms. MBC, she said, stood ready to convene the private sector and partner with government; she closed by linking better governance with a better business environment.

[00:44:08 · asr-000846](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-000846) · [00:44:32 · asr-000858](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-000858)

### Meritocracy and performance-based local funding

Fuentebella supported the senior vice chair's proposed meritocracy bill and said performance could guide larger local-government support, including through the LGSF. Garcia described the bill as a way to measure performance across local and national government, make budget information more transparent and accountable, and shift from broad crisis assistance toward performance-based support after the crisis. He said the bill was still moving through the legislative process and expressed hope it would advance.

[00:54:34 · asr-001161](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-001161) · [00:56:50 · asr-001229](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-001229) · [00:58:58 · asr-001293](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-001293)

### Restore open CSO engagement and predictable budget processes

Eunice Tanilon of the Makati Business Club (MBC) said the group wanted to maintain the initiative, process and openness shown in the prior year, but that the current sentiment was that civil-society engagement had moved backward. She also acknowledged greater responsiveness in this hearing. Tanilon said corruption scandals had hurt business and foreign direct investment, and MBC hoped its engagement could help clarify the situation. She called for clear investment in regulatory desks related to ease of doing business, and renewed MBC support for the Right to Information Act, proactive disclosure and Cadena. She said MBC had convened companies, mostly from multinational sectors, and received cases and queries about lack of information, lost investment and missed opportunities. For business, she emphasized clarity and predictability, asking for advance release calendars, advance notice of hearings and sessions, and opportunities to contribute earlier in the process.

[02:29:14 · asr-003442](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-003442) · [02:30:00 · asr-003465](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-003465) · [02:30:07 · asr-003466](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-003466) · [02:30:58 · asr-003476](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-003476)

## IBON Foundation Representative Archilles Parallon

### Social-service reductions and road-project detail

Parallon of IBON Foundation said the 2027 budget appeared to reduce social-service funding, particularly for education and health. He separately flagged a roughly 26% decrease in the National Irrigation Administration target as El Nino approached, and said core departments faced decreases of about 7% to 8%. He argued that people-centered budgeting should strengthen agriculture and industry and asked for greater specificity about the length of road networks funded by the Department of Public Works and Highways so the public could assess whether the allocations were sufficient.

[00:46:25 · asr-000914](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-000914) · [00:46:53 · asr-000928](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-000928) · [00:47:30 · asr-000947](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-000947) · [00:47:39 · asr-000951](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-000951)

## Multiply Ed Philippines Amplify Education Budget Initiative National Campaign Coordinator John Lloyd B. Elsisura

### Restore visible education priorities and devolve resources

John Lloyd B. Elsisura, National Campaign Coordinator of the Amplify Education Budget Initiative at Multiply Ed Philippines, argued that the proposed 2027 Department of Education (DepEd) budget placed more programs under centralized, discretionary items, making citizen monitoring harder and, in his view, risking patronage. He cited no dedicated 2027 line items for child protection, Last Mile Schools, the Aral Program, and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) in Schools; WASH had PHP 500 million in 2026. He said Basic Education Facilities (BEF) funding had fallen from PHP 85.4 billion in the 2026 General Appropriations Act (GAA) to PHP 30.55 billion in the current proposal, a 60% decline, while an umbrella BEF item obscured allocations for classrooms and other programs. He reported classroom shortages in monitored schools and a nationwide backlog, and urged Congress to use the 2026 GAA level as a BEF baseline. He also cited slow establishment and lack of operation of inclusive learning resource centers (ILRCs), and a reduction in Indigenous Peoples Education (IPED) funding from PHP 154.4 million to PHP 76.2 million. Other concerns included centralized inclusive-education funds, unfunded teacher-hiring needs, textbook delivery, and shortages of guidance counselors. Elsisura asked DepEd, DBM, and Congress to restore dedicated lines for Last Mile Schools, WASH, ILRCs, the Alternative Learning System, learning materials, and inclusive education; set measurable targets; expand inclusive education; and move both implementation and budget authority to regions. He also asked that Congress correct the proposed cuts to vital services. Rep. Monique Yazmin Maria Q. Lagdameo agreed that education funds should be used efficiently and invited continued monitoring. Garcia said the concerns would be recorded, referred to the responsible vice chairs or agencies, and followed through the budget process and implementation. He attributed cuts to DBM's stated concern about absorptive capacity amid centralization, described expanded implementation options involving DepEd, DPWH, local governments, or public-private partnerships, and said the House would seek improvements and corrections. The panel committed to referral, monitoring and further review of the requested restorations.

[01:05:22 · asr-001493](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-001493) · [01:05:36 · asr-001500](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-001500) · [01:06:18 · asr-001522](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-001522) · [01:06:20 · asr-001523](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-001523) · [01:06:24 · asr-001525](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-001525) · [01:06:26 · asr-001526](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-001526) · [01:08:04 · asr-001576](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-001576) · [01:08:06 · asr-001577](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-001577) · [01:08:08 · asr-001578](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-001578) · [01:10:21 · asr-001644](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-001644) · [01:15:04 · asr-001690](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-001690) · [01:18:01 · asr-001778-split-2](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-001778-split-2) · [01:19:59 · asr-001838](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-001838)

## Jesse M. Robredo Institute of Governance Program Assistant Patricia Geneva de la Torre

### Governance partnerships and capacity building

Torre of the Jesse Robredo Institute of Governance described partnerships with higher-education institutions, State Universities and Colleges nationwide, and DBM's Public Financial Management Competency Program. She said these partnerships support institutional capacity, public governance, and development stakeholders, and could provide insights for future researchers. Garcia welcomed the Institute's governance engagement and said meritocracy provisions in the proposed Budget Code and amendments to the Seal of Good Local Governance could help align national and local work and strengthen legitimacy and outcomes. Lagdameo also described a partnership with the Jesse Robredo Foundation to support learners' professional development alongside their education. 

[01:13:41 · asr-001671](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-001671) · [01:17:16 · asr-001754](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-001754) · [01:19:10 · asr-001813](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-001813)

## Safe Travel PH Representative Camille Fajardo

### Measure transport outcomes and address utilization bottlenecks

Fajardo of Safe Travel PH urged Congress to judge transport spending by public outcomes, including shorter waits, reliable service, safe access, affordability and sustainable livelihoods for transport workers. She said low obligation or disbursement rates can reflect procurement delays, weak staffing, delayed releases, poor design or implementation bottlenecks, and do not by themselves show that a program is unnecessary; high accomplishment rates also do not prove success. In the proposed 2027 Department of Transportation (DOTr) budget, she cited zero proposed allocation for fuel subsidy and service contracting and about PHP176.8 million nationwide for the public transport modernization program. If these reductions were justified by underutilization, she asked Congress to examine its causes and why the response was to reduce funding rather than fix implementation. Rep. Reynante U. Arrogancia said appropriators examine utilization and acknowledged the need to determine where implementation failed, including procurement and sidewalk or bike-lane expansion. He said the concerns would be taken to committee for consideration in preparing the 2027 budget. Senior Vice Chair Garcia connected the outcome-based approach to a meritocracy bill and said the impact on people's lives matters alongside compliance with process. He said the concerns were recorded and that members would learn what changes would be recommended..

[01:22:55 · asr-001924](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-001924) · [01:24:50 · asr-001982](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-001982) · [01:24:56 · asr-001985](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-001985) · [01:30:08 · asr-002143](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-002143) · [01:34:26 · asr-002182](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-002182)

## Move As One Coalition Representative Ysabel Eugene G. Agregado

### Restore public transport programs and fund road safety

Agregado of the Move As One Coalition said multiple House members had supported restoring funding for critical road-based transport programs that had been cut to zero or nearly zero: the EDSA busway, active transport including sidewalks as well as bike lanes, and fuel subsidy and service contracting for transport workers. She said those subsidy programs had helped the sector during the oil crisis, had been insufficient in the current year, and had zero funding proposed for the next year; she hoped congressional support would carry through to the General Appropriations Act (GAA). She also sought funding for implementation of the 2023-2028 Philippine Road Safety Action Plan, saying DOTr proposed annual funding of PHP100 million, two years remained in the plan, and it had never been funded. Agregado said road crashes were the leading cause of death among Filipinos aged 15 to 29. Garcia described infrastructure inefficiency as a large economic cost, citing a JICA study: PHP2.5 billion per day in 2014, updated to PHP3.5 billion per day in 2017, with PHP5.4 billion per day projected by 2030 if the problem remained unresolved. He separately said he calculated cumulative losses to date at PHP13.7 trillion, which he characterized as twice the current budget. He compared the annualized loss with current-budget capital outlay, which he put at PHP1.2 trillion to PHP1.3 trillion and described as roughly the budget leeway being debated in the House and bicameral conference. He attributed the losses to congestion, wasted time, pollution, reduced work-life balance, productivity and opportunity. Garcia said the concerns were recorded and that members would recommend changes, with the requests remaining for budget deliberation.

[01:26:36 · asr-002038](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-002038) · [01:27:53 · asr-002076](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-002076) · [01:35:53 · asr-002194](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-002194) · [01:36:15 · asr-002196](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-002196) · [01:36:54 · asr-002204](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-002204) · [01:36:58 · asr-002205](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-002205) · [01:37:02 · asr-002206](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-002206) · [01:37:14 · asr-002208](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-002208)

### Cadena Act and public tracking of budget amendments

Agregado asked Congress to act on the Cadena Act, which she said the Senate approved in December 2025 and which remained pending in the House. She said it would provide infrastructure to digitize and publicly verify House budget amendments so citizens could track whether commitments appeared in final appropriations. Civil society groups were already sharing links to open-source tools such as the Open Budget Transparency Server, she said, but a legal framework and funding were needed to establish and maintain them. John Castillo said the program would later discuss stronger participatory-budget mechanisms, including the Philippine Budgeting Code.

[01:28:20 · asr-002090](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-002090) · [01:28:51 · asr-002105](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-002105) · [01:39:09 · asr-002229](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-002229)

### Issue participation rules for the current budget cycle

Ysabel Eugene G. Agregado thanked the panel for its commitments on the House budget-transparency portal and proposed bills, then urged the Appropriations and People's Participation committees to act immediately on civil-society participation guidelines for the current budget cycle. She said the prior year's guidelines had been released before hearings, but no formal guidelines had been issued for this cycle even though hearings were underway. She said the absence of rules had left some agriculture questions unasked and prevented House passes from being processed because CSOs lacked instructions on how to submit names. Agregado said the guidelines were reportedly under consideration by the Appropriations Committee and asked why they had not been issued before hearings began, as well as for a panel commitment to pass a resolution as soon as possible.

[02:24:04 · asr-003291](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-003291) · [02:24:16 · asr-003297](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-003297) · [02:24:52 · asr-003315](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-003315) · [02:25:42 · asr-003340](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-003340)

### Interim participation guidelines

Moderator John Castillo clarified new participation guidelines were under consideration by the Task Force on People's Participation, of which the Committee on Appropriations was a member, while other teams evaluated or finalized the guidelines. Garcia added that the previous guidelines remained in effect in the meantime. 

[02:27:52 · asr-003403](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-003403) · [02:28:14 · asr-003414-split-2](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-003414-split-2) · [02:28:22 · asr-003418](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-003418)

## ipaBITAGmo Incorporated Executive Director April Joy Meneses

### Adopt bottom-up budgeting to include local priorities

April Joy Meneses, executive director of ipaBITAGmo Incorporated, identified the organization as the advocacy arm of BTAG Media Network. She said IBMI-NGO had been advocating bottom-up budgeting (BUB), which she described as a grassroots process: identify needed projects, programs and activities in communities, then elevate them through local development councils, regional development councils and the national government. She urged lawmakers to adopt this process so people at the grassroots could take part in budgeting. She argued that their participation could help avoid ghost or unfinished projects and keep requests from local communities from being left out. She said the group was pushing for lawmakers to implement or adopt bottom-up budgeting in the budget process.

[01:48:13 · asr-002419](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-002419) · [01:48:37 · asr-002431](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-002431) · [01:49:06 · asr-002449](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-002449)

### Legislate bottom-up budgeting and monitor local projects

April Joy Meneses welcomed Garcia's support for bottom-up budgeting and said the process should be established by law, rather than left as a program or guidelines that an administration could choose whether to adopt. She said her group had submitted a position paper advocating legislation and asked to meet with Garcia to seek his sponsorship of a bill. Meneses said communities should help ensure that local programs, activities, and projects reflect people's needs and are monitored, to guard against ghost or unfinished projects and budget insertions hidden from public view. She also welcomed Garcia's mention of the transparency portal and encouraged other departments to take part.

[02:31:54 · asr-003487](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-003487) · [02:32:43 · asr-003493](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-003493) · [02:33:19 · asr-003499](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-003499) · [02:33:40 · asr-003502](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-003502)

## Panel proposals for a permanent participation framework

### A single portal for budget hearing materials

Responding to Montesa's request, Garcia said the committee secretary would coordinate with CPBRD to create a single portal for department presentations and hearing materials. Garcia said they would try to add data first and videos as hearings were completed, so researchers could find materials in one place. 

[02:02:11 · asr-002670](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-002670) · [02:04:14 · asr-002694](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-002694)

### HDI++ and merit-based national and local performance

Garcia described meritocracy provisions in the proposed Budget Code alongside amendments to the Seal of Good Local Governance as a way to professionalize national and local governance. He presented the Human Development Index plus plus (HDI++) as five quality-of-life pillars: education, health, per-capita income and local jobs/economy, peace and order, and affordability. He said these measures could be disaggregated from national to regional, provincial, district, city, municipal, and barangay levels, drawing on proxy data and coordination with the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), and Commission on Audit (COA) to assess outcomes as well as processes. He connected measurable improvement to performance-based rewards and bottom-up planning, including local government support and barangay priorities feeding into municipal programs.

[02:04:38 · asr-002705](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-002705) · [02:05:50 · asr-002741](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-002741) · [02:09:57 · asr-002871](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-002871)

### Harmonize existing participation and make it permanent

Committee on People's Participation Chairperson Rep. Maria Angela S. Garcia said bottom-up participation already runs through barangay, municipal and city, provincial, and regional development councils, while national agencies prepare proposals and the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) sets the overall fiscal framework. She identified harmonization between local priorities, agency plans, fiscal limits, and final national allocations as the challenge. She said six participation measures were pending before her committee and that members would study them with stakeholders, strengthen existing mechanisms, address implementation gaps, and work toward a permanent legislative framework. She also called for participation grounded in data, demonstrated need, and intended outcomes, using Human Development Index++ outcomes as a common direction across levels of government. 

[02:14:17 · asr-003000](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-003000) · [02:16:04 · asr-003054](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-003054) · [02:17:17 · asr-003090](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-003090) · [02:21:18 · asr-003208](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-003208)

## GoodGovPH Representative Michelle Andre Macahilo

### Youth participation in budget monitoring and accountability

Speaking for the youth sectors represented by GoodGovPH, Michelle Andre Macahilo said budget monitoring should continue beyond deliberations through implementation and auditing. She urged officials, when amending the Seal of Good Local Governance (SGLG), to recognize youth counterparts, including the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK), and other youth-governance institutions. She cited the organization's Seal of Good Youth Governance as an example of how monitoring can strengthen accountability and transparency and recognize the capacity of youth councils to govern. 

[02:34:44 · asr-003529](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-003529) · [02:34:49 · asr-003532](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-003532) · [02:35:05 · asr-003540](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-003540) · [02:35:25 · asr-003550](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-003550)

## Panel closing commitments

### Circulate the Budget Code bill for CSO comments

Responding to Doris's comments on the Budget Code, Senior Vice Chair Albert Garcia said staff would give each CSO a copy of the House bill and invite suggestions while it was still being revised. He said those comments could be considered before passage and described the bill as a future guide for a more transparent, accountable, efficient, people-centered budget. Albert Garcia said the panel had taken the participants' suggestions seriously and would seek a steadier, more performance- and outcome-based budget process. The bill remained under development; this was a commitment to circulate it and consider feedback, not enactment.

[02:38:16 · asr-003635](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-003635) · [02:38:39 · asr-003646](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-003646) · [02:40:14 · asr-003694](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-003694)

### Apologize for missed questions and keep channels open

Responding to Eunice Tanilon's concern that engagement had moved backward and to the omitted civil-society questions, Vice Chair Fuentebella apologized on behalf of the Congressional Policy and Budget Research Department (CPBRD) and the Appropriations Committee. He asked participants to submit questions to the committee, said inputs could still be raised during plenary or bicameral conference, and committed that the committee would act on them. Agency schedules remained uncertain because officials' availability could force rescheduling, and the BARC schedule had not been set. The specific missed questions remained unanswered in this exchange.

[02:41:22 · asr-003727](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-003727) · [02:42:00 · asr-003746](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-003746) · [02:43:48 · asr-003800](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-003800)

### Connect budget evidence with earlier, trackable participation

CPBRD Deputy Secretary General Dr. Romulo Emmanuel Miral Jr. called for a unified monitoring and evaluation system, common agency performance indicators, interoperable data, and timely public access to financial and performance information so budget review could assess delivery and outcomes as well as spending. He paired that evidence infrastructure with earlier CSO engagement, better access to information and budget literacy, clearer channels between CSOs and legislators, and a way to track how civil-society recommendations are considered. He said these reforms would bring community evidence together with official data; they were proposed reforms, not systems reported as already established.

[02:47:28 · asr-003885](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-003885) · [02:50:52 · asr-003928](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-003928) · [02:52:37 · asr-003947](https://tordecilla.github.io/budget-hearings-2026/records/47/#asr-003947)