MANILA — House Speaker Faustino “Bojie” Dy III on Wednesday firmly denied allegations that lawmakers are quietly inserting additional projects or funds into the proposed 2026 budget of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), asserting that such claims misrepresent the purpose and limits of bicameral conference committee deliberations.
Dy said the bicameral process does not allow the introduction of new items, stressing that it is strictly meant to reconcile differences between budget versions already approved separately by the House of Representatives and the Senate.
“Nais ko lang pong itama ang mga kumakalat na ispekulasyon: wala pong nangyayaring ‘insertion’ o palihim na pagdaragdag ng pondo o probisyon sa bicameral conference committee,” Dy said.
The Speaker issued the clarification following a report by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) alleging that as much as two-thirds of the proposed DPWH budget for 2026 consists of so-called “insertions.”
Dy emphasized that the House version of the national budget underwent plenary debates, scrutiny, and formal approval by members of the chamber before it was forwarded to the bicameral conference committee, making it procedurally impossible to add new items at that stage.
He explained that the bicameral panel’s authority is limited to harmonizing conflicting provisions between the House and Senate versions of the budget and does not extend to inserting projects or appropriations that were never passed by either chamber.
According to Dy, the House conducted the budget process in a transparent and lawful manner, with all allocations subject to legislative deliberation and public accountability.
“Bilang Speaker ng Kamara, ako po ay naninindigan sa malinis, maayos, at tapat na proseso ng paggawa ng budget. Ginagawa po natin ito hindi para sa pansariling interes kundi para sa ikabubuti ng bawat Pilipino,” he said./PN
