Senate President Vicente Sotto III and Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Thursday confirmed that the bicameral conference committee meeting for the proposed 2026 national budget has been reset to Dec. 13, to give technical staff from both chambers more time to align differing entries in the spending measure.

The bicameral was originally scheduled for Friday but Sotto said the technical teams of the Senate and House of Representatives sought an additional day to complete the detailed budget matrix needed for final negotiations.

“We are constrained to move the Bicam to Saturday because the technical staff of both the House and the Senate requested one more day to craft the details of the matrix and reconcile the conflicting provisions and amounts, given that budget documents this year are disaggregated and the technical descriptions are included per project,” Sotto said in a Viber message to reporters.

He added the Senate is ensuring all details and annexes are “exhibited and exposed for transparency” so both chambers can thoroughly review each other’s versions of House Bill No. 4058, or the 2026 General Appropriations Act.

Gatchalian, who chairs the Senate Committee on Finance, echoed the need for additional time due to the complexity of this year’s budget files.

“The technical staff of both the House and the Senate requested one more day to craft the details of the matrix and reconcile the conflicting provisions and amounts, given that budget documents this year are disaggregated and the technical descriptions are included per project,” he said.

He earlier noted that the disaggregation of project-level entries and inclusion of technical descriptions have made this year’s budget reconciliation “more meticulous than usual.”

The bicameral conference committee —tasked with harmonizing the Senate and House versions of the 2026 General Appropriations Act—will now convene on Saturday at the Philippine International Convention Center. (PNA)