The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) on Tuesday urged the public to take some time to monitor the budget deliberations.

This, as DBM Secretary Amenah Pangandaman backed calls to make the bicameral budget deliberations open to the public to ensure transparency.

“Ang gusto po sana natin ay makibahagi ang ating mga kababayan lalo na po ang ating mga kabataan para malaman po nila kung paano ang mag-gawa ng budget at kung paano ito matatapos (What we would like is for our countrymen, especially our youth, to participate so that they know how to make a budget and how it will be completed),” Pangandaman said during the post-State of the Nation Address conference in San Juan City.

“Sinimulan natin na ito ay bukas sa tao. Hanggang sa matapos po ito, ito po ay bukas sa tao (We started this being open to the people. Until it is completed, it will be open to the people),” she added.

Pangandaman said the executive branch has been vocal in making the budget process transparent, from the time the 2026 budget plan was crafted until it is enacted as the General Appropriations Act.

She said a copy of the 2026 National Expenditure Program (NEP), also called as the President’s budget, will be uploaded on the DBM’s official website, once transmitted to Congress.

“Sa ngayon po, ini-imprenta na po ang ating budget. In two weeks, ibibigay na po natin ito sa House of Representatives at saka sa Senado (Right now, our budget is being printed. In two weeks, we will submit it to the House of Representatives and then to the Senate),” she added.

She said there will be a series of consultations and budget deliberations in the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Pangandaman said the DBM, in coordination with other government agencies, will make sure that the proposed 2026 budget is “responsive” to the people’s needs.”

“Kung ano po ang kinakailangan ng ating mga tao, makikinig po kami diyan, magi-invest po kami diyan (What our people need, we will listen to, we will invest in). We will make sure na kung ano ang budget na nakalaan sa atin ay makarating ng mas mabilis sa mga tao (that what our budget provides reaches the people faster),” she said.

“We will be more transparent and we will be more accountable sa mga kababayan natin (to our countrymen).” (PNA)