Marcos Signs 6.793T Peso 2026 Budget with Vetoes

MANILA, Philippines - President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed the 6.793 trillion peso national budget for fiscal year 2026 into law on Monday, vetoing portions of unprogrammed appropriations to address corruption concerns and reduce discretionary spending to its lowest level since 2019.

The signing ceremony at Malacanang Palace came amid heightened scrutiny following widespread corruption scandals exposed in 2025, particularly in flood control projects. Marcos exercised his veto power on seven of the 10 proposed unprogrammed appropriations, totaling 92.5 billion pesos out of an initial 243.4 billion pesos. This trimmed the final unprogrammed allocations to 150.9 billion pesos, focusing on essential needs. The retained items include 97.306 billion pesos for support to foreign-assisted projects, 3.6 billion pesos for a risk management program, and 50 billion pesos for the Armed Forces of the Philippines' modernization.

Marcos emphasized the move's role in restoring public trust. "The unprogrammed appropriations are not blank checks," he said during the ceremony. "We will not allow the unprogrammed appropriations to be misused or treated as a backdoor for discretionary spending." He...