It’s final, NEP won’t be sent back to DBM — Suansing

Rep. Mikaela Suansing of Nueva Ecija.

MANILA, Philippines — The proposed budget for 2026, or the National Expenditure Program (NEP), will not be sent back by the House of Representatives, according to Mikaela Suansing, chairperson of the committee on appropriations and Nueva Ecija 1st District representative.

During the committee’s hearing on the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) budget, Suansing said that while the party leaders at the House wanted to send back the NEP to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), it was only a recommendation that was not acted upon by the leadership.

Suansing then confirmed that the leadership has decided with finality to refrain from sending back the NEP.

READ: Dizon makes no presentation at House as he vows DPWH budget overhaul

“One thing that I would like to clarify with regard to the concern on returning the NEP, what was laid down by the party leaders is recommendations from the Speaker to send back the NEP, so there was no decision on the part of the leadership as to what to do with it,” Suansing said in mixed Filipino and English.

“But now, we have a clear decision, so we can definitely say that the House will not return the NEP to the executive.  So that’s it, that’s clear today, Congress would not return the NEP to the executive,” she added.

Suansing’s clarification came after Mamamayang Liberal Party-list Rep. Leila de Lima inquired about the system for questioning DPWH, as she proposed that lawmakers with concerns over their districts’ altered allocations should be allowed to go first.

According to de Lima, this setup should be adopted since there are rumors that the NEP may be sent back to the DBM

“If our House leaders would really insist on their proposal to send back the NEP — although this was already withdrawn — maybe it would be better for those who know what items are erroneous, what items are questionable entries, in the NEP pertaining to DPWH, we can prioritize that,” de Lima said in Filipino.

“Let those who know, who have knowledge about what those questionable entries are, first point out to us what those (issues are),” she added.

However, House Senior Deputy Minority Leader and Caloocan 2nd District Rep. Edgar Erice said that he believes it would be unconstitutional to send back the NEP — prompting Suansing’s clarification.

“Congresswoman de Lima mentioned about returning the NEP, may we just be enlightened on this particular issue?  Because I don’t think that it’s constitutionally possible (to be) returning the NEP and we will be violating because it’s very clear that our rule is 30 days after convening Congress, the NEP should be with us,” he said.

“So that is my question, is there still a plan to send back the NEP to the executive department?” he asked.

Just this Wednesday, party leaders in the House said they have recommended to Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez that the NEP be sent back to the DBM after they discovered that problems afflicting the DPWH — the presence of funding for already-completed projects — were present in other agencies as well.

READ: House party leaders recommend sending NEP back to DBM

It was Deputy Speaker Ronaldo Puno who made the revelation that DPWH programs in the district level still received allocations despite these being completed already, citing the case of Marikina Rep. Marcelino Teodoro who experienced the said issue.

Puno said he also checked the allocations for his own district — the first district of Antipolo — and he found out that projects provided by the district and regional engineering office of the DPWH were no longer in the NEP.

DPWH’s proposed budget for 2026 was deliberated on Friday, but Dizon did not provide any presentation as there is an order from President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to revise the proposed budget.

Dizon said he and Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman will revise and fix — and overhaul, if needed — the proposed 2026 budget after the errors were discovered by lawmakers.

Eventually, the committee deferred discussions on the DPWH’s proposed budget for 2026, after De Lima made two motions — first, to compel the DPWH and the DBM to submit an errata, and second, to defer the briefing on DPWH’s budget.

Both motions were approved by Suansing. /mr