The House Committee on Appropriations concluded its agency-by-agency deliberations on the proposed ₱7.2-trillion General Appropriations Bill (GAB) for fiscal year 2027 on Tuesday, September 8, staying strictly within its target schedule.
The panel finalized its review after South Cotabato 2nd District Representative Ferdinand Hernandez moved to close the committee-level hearings.
Committee chair and Nueva Ecija 1st District Representative Mika Suansing subsequently announced the termination of the proceedings, marking a major milestone for the annual spending measure—widely considered the most vital piece of legislation passed by Congress.
Designated as House Bill (HB) No. 10858 following its filing on August 26, the 2027 GAB stands as the largest proposed national budget in Philippine history.
”After two weeks of extensive deliberations, hundreds and hundreds of hours of interpellations, with the termination of this final agency budget hearing, all scheduled budget hearings of the Committee on Appropriations on HB No. 10858 have now been completed,” Suansing told the panel.
”This marks the culmination of the committee’s series of budget hearings on HB No. 10858, the fiscal year 2027 [GAB],” she said.
”The chair thanks all members of the committee, our distinguished colleagues in the House, the agencies and their resource persons, and the committee secretariat for your participation and hard work throughout these proceedings,” Suansing further said.
In an interview prior to formally wrapping up the proceedings, Suansing confirmed that the committee successfully met its operational timeline.
”Yes, nasunod po [ang timeline]. Ang target po natin, September 8 po matatapos yung committee hearings and we’re definitely on track,” she said.
Following the completion of the panel-level hearings, the proposed budget moves closer to plenary discussions. The House leadership aims to pass HB No. 10858 on third and final reading by October 9.