De Lima calls for ‘constitutionally sound’ remedy for ‘mangled’ NEP

Sen. Leila De Lima —HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines— Mamamayang Liberal Rep. Leila de Lima on Wednesday called for a “constitutionally sound” remedy for the 2026 proposed national budget after House party leaders proposed to return it in its entirety back to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).

In a statement, De Lima stressed that time was “of the utmost essence” for the budget deliberations for 2026, which have already started last month but which was now under threat of delay should the proposal put forward by Deputy Speaker and Antipolo Rep. Ronaldo Puno be heeded.

This, she said, regardless of whether the House decides to return the NEP back to the DBM or the DBM instead provides Congress with corrections or amendments to certain parts of the NEP.

READ: House party leaders recommend sending NEP back to DBM

“At any rate, we cannot be paralyzed in the Congress by the specter of a re-enacted budget or the ghost of a mangled appropriations bill,” she said. “We must make our institutions work, and make them work for our people.”

Her statement comes after Puno and other ranking House lawmakers revealed they were recommending the return of the “mangled” P6.793 trillion NEP back to the executives “because we do not know how to deal with it.”

“We have to practically redo the entire submission to us, and we do not want to be suspected of any untoward action,” Puno said. “So we have decided that in good conscience, we cannot begin deliberations on this national budget.”

READ: Lacson proposes Senate adoption in toto of 2026 spending plan

De Lima reiterated that any proposed solution to fix the NEP must follow the constitution and not trample on the congressional power of the purse.

Earlier, she had already rejected a proposal by Sen. Panfilo Lacson to adopt the NEP in toto as it surrenders congressional duty to scrutinize the budget.

But “it is an even greater sin for the people if we have seen some mistakes, we have not corrected them or we have simply allowed them to be enacted,” she added.

As of Wednesday, several agencies have already terminated deliberations for their budget. The Department of Public Works and Highways—whose NEP budget has been flagged for duplicating items, items for already-completed projects, and items with identical amounts—is itself set for hearing on Friday. /cb