House liberal progressives call for open bicam budget deliberations

Akbayan party-list Representative Jose Manuel “Chel” Diokno (left) and Mamamayang Liberal party-list Representative Leila de Lima. (Photo from Senate PRIB/INQUIRER files)

MANILA, Philippines—The liberal progressive bloc in the House of Representatives has called on the 20th Congress to make more transparent the bicameral conference committee deliberations for the national budget.

On Tuesday, Mamamayang Liberal party-list Rep. Leila de Lima, Akbayan party-list Representatives Chel Diokno, Perci Cendana, and Dadah Kiram Ismula, and Albay Rep. Krisel Lagman filed Joint Resolution No. 2, which seeks to open the bicam deliberations to the public either by allowing them to attend in person or by livestreaming it online.

Speaking to reporters shortly after the filing, Lagman said this was their response to President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s fourth State of the Nation Address on Monday, where he threatened to return any General Appropriations Bill (GAB) that would not be aligned with the National Expenditures Program.

READ: Marcos tells Congress: I won’t sign budget not aligned with gov’t

“What we want is a more transparent discussion of the budget, and to make everyone involved in the process accountable,” she said.

“An open bicam or transparent bicam would ensure that we could see what they took out or added in the reconciled versions of the Senate and Congress.”

A joint resolution requires the action of both the House and the Senate.

Once Joint Resolution No. 2 is enacted, it would also compel the bicam committee to come up with a matrix that compares the differences between the House of Representatives’ and Senate’s version of the bill, and how these differences were resolved.

Such a matrix, as well as a comprehensive minutes of the meeting, would also be made public.

Their filing also coincided with House Speaker Martin Romualdez’s vow to finally open to the public the bicam conference, often called the “third congress” as it has the power to realign billions of pesos of public funds and insert major amendments to the GAB, often away from the public eye.

READ: Romualdez backs ‘open bicam’ process

This was in contrast to the committee and plenary level deliberations which are open to the public both onsite and online.

These reforms were prompted by public outrage over how the 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA) was crafted—particularly the last-minute realignments made to the Department of Public Works and Highways during the bicameral conference.

The education sector bore the brunt of these changes, losing a staggering ₱12 billion from the Department of Education and another ₱14.5 billion from state universities and colleges, in clear violation of the constitutional mandate to prioritize education in the national budget. /gsg