Manila, May 21 -- Senator-elect Panfilo Lacson on Wednesday welcomed President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.'s reported plan to observe the bicameral deliberations on the proposed 2026 national budget.

In a statement, Lacson said Marcos as an observer "will send a strong signal to Congress not to make a mockery of our role in the budget process."

"As long as the President will not actively participate in the bicameral conference deliberations and just sit as an observer - lest he be misunderstood as encroaching on the time-honored tradition of the legislature - I support such gesture," he said.

The former senator, known for his fiscal oversight, has repeatedly criticized the lack of transparency in the bicameral conference committee, which h...