Senate panel to review PCO P1.1-B budget hike request

The Senate Subcommittee on Finance chaired by Senator Loren Legarda will review the request of the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) to increase its proposed 2026 budget from ₱2.8 billion to ₱3.9 billion.

During Friday’s budget hearing, Legarda said the panel will carefully evaluate the request based on the government’s available “fiscal space,” or capacity to expand spending without endangering long-term fiscal stability.

“It is important that as the chief communicator of the government, the PCO and its attached agencies are able to explain the process so that people are educated and informed that our budget is not static,” she said.

The PCO said the additional ₱1.1 billion would fund the retrofitting of the 43-year-old Philippine Information Agency (PIA) building, modernization of People’s Television Network Inc. (PTNI), and payment of the remaining 35 percent in retirement benefits of International Broadcasting Corporation (IBC-13) employees.

PCO Secretary Dave Gomez appealed to the committee to include the budget hike in the Senate’s amendments, emphasizing the need to upgrade the government’s main broadcast network.

He said PTV-4’s facilities “have long been in a very sad state” and require major improvements, while the PIA building “badly needs retrofitting” to ensure safety and efficiency.

Gomez added that the proposed increase would also cover the unpaid retirement benefits of IBC-13 employees, noting that only 65 percent had been released last year and the remaining balance was left out of the current budget proposal.