Following yesterday's postponement, the bicameral conference committee on the 2026 budget delayed DPWH deliberations by four hours on December 16 due to private discussions resolving a deadlock. The session was deferred to the next day.
The bicameral conference committee meetings on the 2026 national budget, now open to the public and livestreamed for the first time, continued to face transparency challenges on Tuesday, December 16. After a four-hour delay from the scheduled 4 p.m. start, Senate Finance Committee Chairperson Sherwin Gatchalian and House Appropriations Chair Mikaela Suansing held one-on-one talks at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC). Sen. Loren Legarda and House members also conferred privately in a small group.
This followed Monday's postponement, prompted by DPWH's appeal—led by Secretary Vince Dizon—to restore P45 billion cut by the Senate over alleged overpriced materials. In an ambush interview, Sen. Kiko Pangilinan noted the Senate still lacks specific data from DPWH for recomputation. Gatchalian said his team would work overnight on revised material costs provided by DPWH, with Suansing's agreement. The committee then shifted to budgets for the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) and Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG).
Now on the third day of hearings, Congress has until December 23 to ratify the bicameral report, or risk a reenacted P6.793 trillion budget with no new projects.
