Senator Kiko Pangilinan is confident that the bicameral conference committee to deliberate the 2026 national budget will be transparent and open to public scrutiny.
In Joint Senate Resolution No. 1–filed at the start of the 20th Congress and a day after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. revealed massive corruption in flood control projects during his State of the Nation Address (SONA)—Pangilinan and other senators, underscored the importance of upholding several provisions of the Constitution that states the people’s right to information, accountability, and integrity in public service.
The resolution that sought to livestream the proceedings was also signed by Senate President Tito Sotto, Senators Risa Hontiveros, Bam Aquino, Panfilo Lacson, Loren Legarda, and Migz Zubiri.
In a press conference, Pangilinan said lawmakers and the public need to be vigilant as deliberations on the 2026 national budget enter the final stages.
“So open bicam, dapat tiyakin yan para kwentas klaras – everything is transparent.”
“Kaya nga, bantayan natin ‘yung bicam,” the veteran legislator told reporters. “Tiyakin natin na hindi na maulit yung mga insertions na nangyari noon at maging transparent lahat. So open bicam, dapat tiyakin yan para kwentas klaras – everything is transparent.”
The bicameral conference committee convened on December 12, to reconcile the conflicting provisions of the House and Senate versions of the 2026 general appropriations measure.
Pangilinan—who defended the budgets of the Department of Agriculture (DA) and its attached agencies, as well as that of the judiciary—is a member of the bicameral committee.
Through his intervention, the seasoned lawmaker ensured that the DA and the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) will integrate transparency portals and dashboards and citizens’ participatory audit in the implementation of their projects and programs.
“I believe so, by and large, as best as we could ‘yung mga coordinates, ‘yung mga geotagging tiniyak natin ‘yan. Tapos mayroong transparency portal para at any given time alam at maliwanag saan ang proyekto, ano ang proyekto para hindi na mangyari itong ghost projects,” the senator explained when asked whether the Senate’s version of the proposed budget is “clean”.
“Malaki ang naging improvement sa ating proseso ng pag-aapruba ng ating general appropriation measure.”
“I believe at this point na malaki ang naging improvement sa ating proseso ng pag-aapruba ng ating general appropriation measure,” he added.
Under Joint Senate Resolution No. 1, Pangilinan and several senators said that “transparency and accountability must be the cornerstones of legislation”.
It stated that all bicameral conference committee deliberations must be open to the public, either in person or via livestream, that it shall produce a matrix comparing the differences between the Senate’s and Congress’ versions of the bill, and that it shall produce “comprehensive minutes” of the meeting.
Both the matrix and minutes will be made available to the public. For the first time, the bicameral conference committee will also be livestreamed on official channels.
