MANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives began on Monday its hearings to scrutinize the 2027 National Expenditure Program (NEP).
The review started with a briefing by the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC), tackling the budget proposals of different departments, agencies and government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs).
The DBCC is comprised of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), Department of Economy, Planning and Development, Department of Finance and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).
Speaker Faustino “Bojie” Dy 3rd earlier vowed that the chamber would subject next year’s spending plan to rigorous scrutiny to ensure that every peso delivers concrete benefits to the Filipino people.
The DBM submitted the NEP, totaling P7.2 trillion, to the House last August 11.
The agencies and sectors with the largest allocations in the proposed 2027 budget are Department of Education (P976 billion), Department of Public Works and Highways (P644 billion, including over P100 billion for flood control initiatives), health sector (P353.8 billion, Department of Heath and PhilHealth combined), Department of the Interior and Local Government (P332.5 billion), Department of National Defense (P328.8 billion), Transport Sector (P302.2 billion), Agriculture Sector (P261.7 billion), Department of Social Welfare and Development (P241.6 billion), higher education (P176.5 billion), and the Judiciary (P86.3 billion).
House leaders are looking at a 53-day timeline from August 17 to October 9, 2026, to pass the General Appropriations Bill.
