Marcos approves P6.793T ‘26 budget

July 16 ------ PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has approved the proposed P6.793 trillion national budget for 2026, Malacañang said.

Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said the proposed budget for next year was approved by the president during a Cabinet meeting earlier Tuesday. Speaking to reporters, Castro said that the National Expenditure Program (NEP) for 2026 reflects the administration’s commitment to enhancing the quality of education and improving the lives of every Filipino. “President Marcos Jr. emphasized that the 2026 budget will not only be about economic growth but also about uplifting the lives of every Filipino and the next generations,” Castro said during a Palace press briefing. “Under the Marcos administration, the welfare of every individual and the future of the people are vital in building a more progressive and developed Bagong Pilipinas,” she added.

The 2026 proposed budget is equivalent to 22 percent of the country’s gross domestic (GDP) product and reflects a 7.4 percent increase from the P6.3-trillion budget for 2025, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said in a statement. “The president himself sat down with the different agencies to ensure that all our priorities are aligned towards our common goal of achieving our vision of a Bagong Pilipinas,” Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman said. “So we are very grateful to the president for his leadership and active role in the crafting of this budget.”

Pangandaman said that the DBM had to trim down requests for budget proposals that reached P10.101 trillion due to limited fiscal space and the fiscal consolidation strategy, which targets gradually reducing the national government’s deficit from 5.5 percent of GDP in 2025 to 4.3 percent by 2028. The lion’s share of the proposed budget will go to maintenance and other operating expenses at P2.639 trillion to fund the implementation of government programs and projects, the DBM said. This is followed by personnel services expenditures with P1.908 trillion, cornering 28.1 percent of the total proposed budget and reflecting a 16.8 percent year-on-year growth.

Source: manilatimes.net