18/12/2025
[Statement of CODE-NGO on the Bicameral Conference]
“WE ARE WATCHING: Enough drama, show us good governance!"
We call on the Filipino people to stand with the Senate version of the Budget Bill, which meaningfully incorporated the concerns of the Civil Society, reducing pork-like allocations in their version, such as ayuda, tulong-dunong, and questionable infrastructure items.
We reject the House’s version that, as per Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, ⅔ of the DPWH budget are pork-barrel allocations which will greatly benefit the House Speaker, the Chair of the Committee on Appropriations, and her sister’s District.
We call on DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon to uphold the dignity of his office, do your work and present to the public a per project costing of infrastructure projects! The Bicam must refuse to be forced into a difficult decision without the necessary information. It is against sound judgment to blindly trust the DPWH with reinstating the House version of their budget based on overpriced cost assumptions, amidst the flood control scandal.
As the largest network of civil society organizations in the Philippines, we at CODE-NGO believe that a genuine Open Bicam is accessible, transparent, and participatory. Filipino citizens and taxpayers have a right to access information, especially pertaining to government budgets.
We welcome the unprecedented reform of livestreaming the Bicameral Conference. Yet, we demand that the Bicameral conference fully realize its promise of a truly Open Bicam. We detest the "emergency meeting" of Senate delegates and the "off-camera huddles of the delegates of the House of Representatives" causing the delay of the conduct of the bicameral conference for nearly 3 hours and further delays throughout the Bicameral Conference.
Let the people sit at the table!
We call on both houses of Congress to encourage people’s participation in the deliberations. The People's Budget Coalition has submitted an analysis of the 2026 budget prior to the bicameral conference and we call for these to be discussed on the floor. We clamor for civil society participation in the Bicam to regain the trust of the Filipino people and to realize a truly peoples' budget.
We implore the lawmakers and the resource persons to exercise self-restraint, to avoid unnecessary and wasteful grandstanding during the bicameral conference. The Filipino people are watching: enough drama, show us good governance.
