MANILA, Philippines — The Senate is aiming to secure President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s signature on the proposed ₱7.2-trillion national budget for 2027 before Congress adjourns for the Christmas break in December.
Senate Senior Majority Leader JV Ejercito, who leads the Senate Committee on Finance, announced during a press briefing on Wednesday, October 14, that senators are optimistic they can fast-track discussions on the spending bill.
The development follows the Senate Impeachment Court’s recent approval allowing the House prosecution panel to withdraw three out of four Articles of Impeachment against Vice President Sara Duterte.
Laying out the legislative schedule, Ejercito stated that the finance panel will draft its report during the upcoming break.
“We will be preparing the committee report (on the budget) during the break (on November 1, 2). We’re targeting that the committee report to be reported out on November 11, and by November 23, we start the plenary debates,” Ejercito said.
The target is to finalize the measure by early December.
“Hopefully, by the second week of December, the President will sign the national budget, before the Christmas break,” he added.
Ejercito confirmed that the Senate has officially received 34 copies of the House of Representatives’ version of the General Appropriations Bill (GAB), which were distributed to lawmakers and the Legislative Budget Research and Monitoring Office (LBRMO).
Finance subcommittee vice chairpersons have been instructed to submit their respective reports by October 23.
Noting substantial differences between the House version and Malacañang’s original National Expenditure Program (NEP), Ejercito pointed out that numerous provisions were altered.
“Almost 206 provisions were moved or changed. There no more institutional amendments left for the Senate,” he noted.
Despite these modifications, Ejercito stressed that the Senate will conduct an independent evaluation rather than accept the House measure automatically.
“But we will look at it, we will not take this at its face value. We will check if the programs are right,” he stated.
Senators will thoroughly evaluate the allocations and House-introduced amendments before proposing their own revisions.