NAVOTAS Rep. Tobias M. Tiangco has urged the Philippine House of Representatives to reopen deliberations on the chamber's proposed 2027 budget, citing limited scrutiny of the spending plan and possible violations of constitutional requirements.

The proposed spending plan sits at the first stage of the national budget process: appropriation measures originate in the House, move to the Senate, and are reconciled through a bicameral conference committee before the annual budget is enacted. That sequence places the chamber's own budget ahead of the scrutiny stages it applies to the government agencies whose spending it reviews.

Mr. Tiangco filed House Resolution No. 1590, which seeks to refer the proposed budget to the Committee on Appropriations, resume plenary deliberations, and transmit any approved amendments to the Senate.

He argued that the House must follow the same procedures for approving its own appropriations as those required for other government agencies under Article VI, Section 25(3) of the Constitution.

Mr. Tiangco questioned why the chamber's proposed budget did not undergo customary committee deliberations and why lawmakers had limited opportunities to examine the proposed expenditures.

During his privilege speech on Monday, he said the notice for plenary deliberations was issued at 2:05 a.m. for a session scheduled at 10 a.m. the same day. His subsequent request to reopen the discussions was also rejected.

“We are the ones who scrutinize the budgets of other agencies,” he said in Filipino. “We are the ones who demand transparency and accountability. But what moral right do we have to demand these if our own budget did not undergo the same scrutiny and deliberation?”

Mr. Tiangco also questioned the P5-billion increase, or 28.37%, introduced by the Budget Amendments and Review Subcommittee, saying the adjustment warranted greater public scrutiny.

He called for the disclosure of budget realignments, the identification of lawmakers who proposed funding changes, and the publication of the amounts allocated to and spent by each House member, including Department of Public Works and Highways projects proposed for congressional districts. Both of his proposed transparency amendments were rejected, he said.

According to Mr. Tiangco, the corrective measures could be completed within two days without delaying the passage of the national budget.

He warned that proceeding without addressing the concerns could expose the House budget to constitutional challenges. He cited the Supreme Court's Oct. 7 ruling on the limits of Congress' budget powers and the authority of the bicameral conference committee.

The House should address any procedural deficiencies itself rather than leave the matter to the Senate or the bicameral conference committee, he added.

How House leaders respond to Resolution No. 1590, and whether the Committee on Appropriations takes up the referral it seeks, will determine the route the chamber's 2027 spending plan takes to the Senate — and whether the procedural questions Mr. Tiangco raised are settled in the lower chamber or carried into the later stages of the budget process.

“This is the nation's fund,” Mr. Tiangco said. “It does not belong to Congress or to any official. This is the money of the Filipino people.”

— Pexcel John Bacon, BusinessWorld Online: Tiangco seeks reopening of House budget review