Legarda loses cool over repeated ‘last-minute’ agency budget requests at bicam

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December 17, 2025 | 3:20pm

MANILA, Philippines — On the third day of bicam talks, Sen. Loren Legarda could not help but air out her frustrations over some agencies’ requests to insert certain projects and bump up their budgets at the very last minute.

The bicameral conference committee began deliberations on the Department of Transportation’s (DOTr) 2026 budget sometime past 9 p.m. on Tuesday, December 16. 

During the session, Rep. Rufus Rodriguez (Cagayan de Oro, 2nd District) questioned Senate Finance Committee Chair Sherwin Gatchalian on why the budget bill excluded funding for two railway projects in Mindanao, a region that still lacks its own railway system.

“May we know why there’s nothing here yet about these two very important railway systems which are good for 22% of our people who are in Mindanao?” Rodriguez asked.

He went on to explain that a feasibility study had already been done and yet the status remains unclear. Gatchalian said that, according to the DOTr, the Mindanao Rail no longer has a funder and that the P200 million allocated in 2025 was not enough. 

However, the reason why both projects failed to appear in the budget bill during bicam was simply because the DOTr did not include these in the National Expenditure Program (NEP) or the president’s budget. 

“The agency did not request that. So, I think the most appropriate agency to talk to and inquire about that is the Department of Transportation," Gatchalian said.

It was at this point that Legarda stood up from her chair to point out the recurring problem that Congress has to face each year during the budget process. 

“You know, we are all asking the agencies the same thing. Those agencies, I agree with them when they say those projects are needed, but why didn’t they put it in the NEP?” she said in a mix of English and Filipino. 

“It’s not the senator’s job or the chairman of finance to answer why it’s not in the NEP. But that’s exactly our question! Why is it not in the NEP?” she asked.

Visibly irritated, Legarda stressed that agencies need to start preparing and properly drafting their own budgets properly and in full before allowing the NEP to reach Congress.

“It’s true! Because I was there for five years and sometimes, at the last minute, they submit in the bicam. Why should they submit in the bicam? They should think of their NEP!” she asked.

Legarda said that over the past five years, she has repeatedly seen agencies approach senators during plenary debates to request the “insertion” of specific budgets or programs, which are sometimes amended despite the limited fiscal space.

“That’s why we do not like having any insertions during the bicam because if those projects were important, they should be in the NEP. … And then now a veteran congressman asks the first-term chair of the finance committee why it is not there. If it’s not in the NEP, what do we do?” she said. 

Rodriguez agreed with Legarda, saying that the DOTr should include those projects in the next budget cycle. On top of that, the senator said that an oversight committee must be organized so that the legislative branch is consulted when agencies do their NEP. 

To address the lack of funding for the railway project, Rodriguez recalled that during a House committee hearing, the DOTr committed to holding a roadshow to attract funders for the two phases of the Mindanao railway.

He said the project could be included in the 2027 budget instead once a funder is secured, seeking support from his fellow lawmakers.

This is the first time bicam talks are being livestreamed and made public. In previous years, they were held behind closed doors, with only the members of the contingent aware of any last-minute budget changes — including the insertions.