Manila, Jan. 6 -- Senate Committee on Finance Chairperson Sherwin Gatchalian on Tuesday clarified that bonuses, personnel benefits, and pensions of government workers were not reduced under the 2026 national budget, dismissing claims that these items had been slashed or removed.

Speaking at a press briefing in the Senate, Gatchalian said the Performance-Based Bonus (PBB) allocation remained unchanged between the National Expenditure Program (NEP) and the General Appropriations Act (GAA).

"Ang bonus mabibigay, hindi nabawasan ang bonus. Sa NEP ang performance bonus is PHP27 billion. Ang sa GAA is PHP27 billion din so walang mababawasan na bonus (The bonus will be given, the bonus was not reduced. Under the NEP, the performance bonus is P...