PASAY CITY — Senate President Win Gatchalian stated on Friday, October 23, that the House of Representatives does not need to recall its version of the proposed 2027 national budget following a recent Supreme Court ruling.
Speaking to reporters in Pasay City, Gatchalian dismissed calls from the Makabayan bloc urging the House to withdraw the approved ₱7.2-trillion budget measure. The appeal from the progressive bloc came after the High Court declared portions of the 2024, 2025, and 2026 national budgets unconstitutional.
According to Gatchalian, the Senate is fully equipped to implement the necessary rectifications during the upcoming budget consolidation phase to avoid stalling the legislative process.
“It’s not really necessary, since we are about to begin the budget consolidation process here. So we can make the correction ourselvs in order to ensure that the budget process won’t be delayed. We will correct it here in the Senate,” Gatchalian told reporters in an interview.
The Senate leader noted that because only limited parts of the 2026 budget were struck down by the judiciary, sweeping modifications during plenary deliberations will not be required.
“And looking at the SC decision on the 2026 budget, only a few portions were affected. I don’t see any major corrections that would be done in the plenary. Of course, we’ll take note of the other issues. But we are capable of correcting it,” he further said.
Gatchalian emphasized that while the Office of the Solicitor General intends to challenge the ruling through an appeal, the Senate will respect and abide by the High Court’s decision. He stated that the chamber would comply with the mandate “without prejudice to the appeal” while proactively flagging items requiring adjustments.
“And second, we will already take note some of the items there that we need to adjust,” he added.
Furthermore, Gatchalian assured the public that the final 2027 expenditure program will strictly respect the ceiling set by the President’s original proposal, aligning with a core principle emphasized in the Supreme Court ruling.
He underscored that the financial blueprint will directly address the country’s most urgent socioeconomic and environmental challenges, highlighting economic recovery, inflation mitigation, and disaster preparation against El Niño as top priorities.
“The requirement of the country is to boost our economy. No. 2 is to respond to inflation and number 3 is to respond to the El Niño. These are the most important aspects of the budget. We need to know if the 2027 budget would be responsive to El Niño,” he stated.