THE Senate of the Philippines approved on Tuesday, December 9, 2025, the proposed P6.793-trillion national budget for fiscal year 2026.
With 17 affirmative votes, no negative votes and no abstentions, the chamber approved in third and final reading House Bill 4058.
At the plenary session, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, chairman of the Senate finance committee, described the 2026 national budget as “more transparent, more disciplined, and more accountable than before.”
Under the Senate-approved version, the Department of Education (DepEd) remains the single largest beneficiary among agencies, with a proposed allocation of P1.37 trillion for the coming year.
Of the figure, about P65.93 billion will fund the construction of over 24,000 new classrooms nationwide, while P28.66 billion aims to support school-based feeding programs.
The approved measure now heads to a bicameral conference with the House of Representatives of the Philippines, which earlier approved the same total in its own third reading on October 13.
During the bicameral conference committee, which is expected to run from December 11 to 13, the upper and the lower chamber will reconcile the differences of their respective versions.
Senate President Vicente "Tito" Sotto III earlier vowed to block any “last-minute insertions” during the bicam meetings.
He said there will be no discretionary fund insertions except for what’s covered under “unprogrammed appropriations,” which depend only on actual excess revenues. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)