Senate tackles judiciary, DMW, science budgets

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November 21, 2025 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines —  Senate justice and human rights committee chair Francis Pangilinan on Wednesday sponsored and defended the Senate’s proposed P67.755-billion budget for the judiciary next year, as he cited the need for better funding to address court backlogs and fast-track resolution of cases.

Pangilinan said the funding will help the judiciary’s programs and address backlog of cases in the Supreme Court and lower courts, the Presidential Electoral Tribunal, Sandiganbayan, the Court of Appeals and Court of Tax Appeals.

It also seeks to strengthen the Philippine Judicial Marshal Service, the Unified Legal Aid Service, adjudication of Supreme Court cases, the Justice Sector Convergence Program, Filipino Sign Language program in courts and the judiciary’s maintenance and operating expenses.

The judiciary also received an additional P200 million budget to put up a third Sharia Court.

For his part, Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson said he would push for a P250 million more funding for the newly organized Judicial Integrity Office (JIO), tasked to investigate corruption within the judiciary.

Lacson said operationalizing the JIO would bring accountability among judges, officials and employees of the courts.

He also hoped the passage of Republic Act 12233, or the Judicial Autonomy Act, would empower the judiciary to propose its own budget next year, instead of relying on the executive’s spending plan, the National Expenditure Program.

DMW budget

Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano questioned the Senate’s proposed P11.4 billion budget for the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) in 2026, compared to the trillions in remittances from overseas Filipino workers (OFW).

“The reason we put the DMW, at least my personal reason, is there is focus for them and it’s just too big. Almost 10 percent of our GDP (Gross Domestic Product) is from the OFWs,” Cayetano said.

He called for the augmentation of the DMW budget using the slashed funds from the graft-tainted Department of Public Works and Highways.

Deputy Majority Leader JV Ejercito also vowed to push to augment the DMW’s proposed P870 million allocation for the refurbishment and construction of temporary shelters for distressed OFWs abroad.

Science education

Small budget increases in the Department of Science and Technology-Science Education Institute (DOST-SEI), which handles scholarships in science-related fields, are hampering the agency’s capability to accept more scholars and raise stipends.

In the past weeks, the DOST-SEI has come under criticism after the scholarships of more than 70 master’s and doctoral students in UP Diliman, under the Accelerated S&T Human Resource Development Program, are under threat of removal, as faculty members were instructed to rank scholars.

Then, in early November, only 958 third-year college students qualified for the Junior Level Science Scholarships (JLSS), a sharp drop from last year’s 2,696. The number of examinees ballooned from 11,508 in 2024 to 14,608 this year.

Science Secretary Renato Solidum Jr. refuted allegations that the DOST-SEI suffered budget cuts, but admitted that funding did not expand enough to allow more scholars to be accepted.

The DOST-SEI is working on a budget of P7.49 billion this year to accommodate about 46,000 undergraduate and 7,000 graduate scholars, a four percent increase from the previous year.

The 2026 House General Appropriations Bill has allocated P7.6 billion for the agency, up by just one percent. The budget is still up for Senate deliberation.

Delays in irrigation

Lacson called on the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) to explain delays in its irrigation projects despite receiving millions of funding yearly.

During yesterday’s interpellation, Lacson cited the long-delayed Balog-Balog Multipurpose Project in Tarlac, which is unfinished despite receiving P7.006 billion from 2015 to 2020.

The Commission on Audit had also flagged Balog-Balog’s five contracts amounting to P7.7 billion, or 37 percent of P20.7 billion worth of delayed projects nationwide.

In a related development, House deputy minority leader and ML party-list Rep. Leila de Lima and fellow Liberal Party lawmakers in the House of Representatives yesterday called for an open and transparent bicameral conference committee as a crucial step toward implementing genuine budget reform and restoring public trust. –  EJ Macababbad, Jose Rodel Clapano