President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said the proposed 2026 national budget of P 6.79 trillion remains fraught with overpricing.

He made the pronouncement in a press conference after the 32nd Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in South Korea last Saturday.

"The bureaucracy is so complex. There's so much to do before you can get a permit. There's so much to do before you can procure. Sometimes it's just red tape. And that costs money," Marcos said.

The House of Representatives passed its version of the 2026 budget before Congress went on recess. It resumes on Nov. 10 with the Senate tackling the budget bill.

At the center of the budget debates is the alleged flood control projects scandal, some of which have yet to built or have fallen behind schedule despite funding.

No estimate of how much government funds were lost as Marcos himself pointed out that big sums may have been lost in State of the Nation Address last July.

Last month, Marcos launched a new policy to bring down the expenses of government agencies by as much as 50 percent to ensure it is roughly the same as the market price.

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) was chosen to launch the program, which was later expanded to cover other government agencies, said Marcos.

Marcos said the government has to make corruption ''harder and harder for them to do.''

" The harder it becomes, the smaller the number of people will be able to operate under corrupt practices. So, it's an ongoing thing. It's not something that you can solve with one fell swoop," Marcos said. DMS