Civil society groups get budget ‘observer’ role

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Civil society groups get budget ‘observer’ role

MANILA, Philippines — In an unprecedented move, Congress has further opened budget proceedings to civil society watchdogs in a bid to build public trust in the process that has been riddled with allegations of corruption and secretive last-minute manipulation.

Speaker Martin Romualdez on Wednesday turned over copies of the proposed P6.793-trillion 2026 National Expenditure Program (NEP) to representatives of civil society organizations (CSOs), marking their formal entry into the budget process.

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The ceremonial turnover, held at the House Social Hall, came hours after Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman submitted the NEP to the House of Representatives, which would start budget deliberations next week.

Among the CSOs who received the copies were Social Watch Philippines (SWP), CODE-NGO, Jesse Robredo Institute of Governance, Philippine Legislators’ Committee on Population and Development, Child Rights Network, Parents Against Vape, Multiply-Ed Philippines, Freedom of Information (FOI) Youth Initiative, Safe Travel PH, REID Foundation, People’s Budget Coalition/Citizen’s Budget Tracker, and Novalerto Youth.

Inclusive process

The turnover also followed the unanimous approval of House Resolution No. 94 last week, which institutionalizes the participation of people’s organizations as non-voting observers in budget deliberations.

  “This is not just about documents, it’s about trust,” Romualdez said. “The budget is the lifeblood of the government. It tells our people where we are putting their hopes and their hard-earned taxes. If we want our people to trust us, they must see and feel that the budget is truly theirs.”

 “In the coming weeks, we will review every page of this NEP guided by one question: Will it improve the lives of our people? If yes, we will support it. If not, we will work to make it better,” he added.

Romualdez also said every expenditure should reap benefits for the people “because a budget the people can trust is a government the people can believe in.”

Big milestone

Some of the participating CSOs were part of an earlier consultation led by Tingog Rep. Jude Acidre last month to help the House craft policies to make the budget process more inclusive. The House is still in the process of finalizing the accreditation process to grant CSOs observer status in the budget deliberations.

Maxine Tanya Hamada of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids called the move a “big milestone … we represent people, communities, and issues. Knowing we are working together under the 20th Congress is something we take very seriously.”

In a joint statement on Wednesday, SWP, the People’s Budget Coalition, and the FOI Youth Initiative said CSOs’ participation in the budget process is “a step towards transparency and public participation.”

“However, we stress that transparency must go beyond ceremonies. Access to budget information must be timely, complete, and in formats that allow for meaningful analysis and engagement. Without such access, the people’s right to participate in decisions on public spending remains tokenistic,” said People’s Budget Coalition’s AJ Montesa.

Transparency challenges

They called on Congress to ensure the release of all 2026 budget documents, particularly in open, machine-readable formats. They cited previous challenges in accessing budget documents, such as the lack of accompanying machine-readable versions and delays in the online release of Excel versions.

“These budget transparency challenges have been hindering the public’s ability to fully understand proposed allocations and spot potential red flags,” said SWP senior budget specialist Alce Quitalig.

FOI Youth Initiative co-convenor Patrick Acupan also reiterated the call for the passage of an enabling law for FOI.

“Freedom of Information will allow citizens to interrogate the budget—not just asking how much is allocated to certain programs, but why it is allocated and for whom … Because at the end of the day, the government’s real priorities are not found in what it says, but in where it puts the people’s money,” Acupan said. —With a report from Gabriel Pabico Lalu

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