Senator Win Gatchalian is pushing for highly detailed line items in the proposed 2026 national budget, arguing that a high level of granularity would remove any room for discretion that could potentially become an opportunity for corruption. 

“Let’s take this as a wake-up call to reform our budget nomenclature, process, and implementation,” said Gatchalian, chair of the Senate Committee on Finance, during the continuation of the DPWH budget hearing.

The senator was referring to proposed projects such as farm-to-roads (FMR) that do not have specific details, such as station number, coordinates, and approximate length, to distinguish them from other infrastructure projects. 

Emphasizing the need for a high level of granularity, Gatchalian pointed out that a proposed road project for 2026 bearing the same title as a road project that was already funded under the 2025 budget provides an opening for irregularity.  

“Dapat pagdating sa budget, wala nang room for discretion. Kapag approved na ‘yung budget, i-implement na lang nang tama. Ganyan ang ginagawa natin ngayon, nilalagyan ng detalye para walang room ang mga corrupt officials na paglaruan ang generic titles,” he emphasized.