Senate picking up pace to ratify 2027 budget bill

MANILA, Philippines — The Senate will hold marathon plenary budget hearings starting next week to meet the target of passing its version of the 2027 General Appropriations Bill (GAB) by Dec. 17, according to Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian.

Speaking to radio dwIZ yesterday, Gatchalian said the Senate wants to avoid last year’s deadlock which had the 2026 GAB ratified only on Dec. 29.

The Senate will start plenary budget debates on Nov. 23 so it could focus on its legislative duties after holding marathon impeachment hearings last week.

With the Senate going on  holiday on Nov. 30 for Bonifacio Day, Gatchalian said the senators will have to work during the Dec. 2 Pasay Day to meet its target of holding five to eight days of budget plenary debates.

“So far, we’re on track. In fact, we can have it approved before the Senate adjourns. With no delays and major issues, it can be ratified before Dec. 17,” Gatchalian said.

“So, starting Nov. 23, it’s full-time on the budget,” he added.

Gatchalian acknowledged the difficulties faced by the senators who are juggling their duties as impeachment court judges and legislators scrutinizing the House of Representatives-approved GAB and the executive’s spending plan or the National Expenditure Program (NEP).

But he said the senator-judges are willing to work around the clock to meet their target of passing the budget as well as rendering a verdict before year-end.

Gatchalian is “optimistic” of the pace of the proceedings to wrap up before the year ends after the defense dropped several of their witnesses.

The Senate will only hold impeachment trials on Nov. 19 and 20 this week because of the ASEAN Summit. The court has yet to set its December schedule.

“Whether conviction or acquittal, we will finish the process,” Gatchalian said, adding that dropping the bank executives as witnesses would deny Vice President Sara Duterte’s defense team to rebut the prosecution’s impeachment article on unexplained wealth.

“It would have been nicer if the issue on the bank accounts were addressed because that (unexplained wealth) was the heaviest allegation by the prosecution,” Gatchalian said.

“But we’ll see if other witnesses can clear the issue,” he added.

Gatchalian reiterated the Senate’s vow to remove 295 public works projects worth P8.836 billion from the proposed P7.2-trillion national budget next year and ensure that all infrastructure projects are backed by documentary works after civil society groups flagged farm-to-market roads with wrong coordinates.

Gatchalian thanked House Speaker Faustino Dy III for being open to the Senate’s call to clean up the House version of the budget and make sure there are no more questionable budget insertions.
Speaking to radio dzIZ separately yesterday, Senate finance committee chairman JV Ejercito said there was delay in his sponsorship speech of the budget because of the grueling task of doing “line by line” scrutiny of the Senate and House versions of the budget.

Ejercito vowed to ensure that all infrastructure projects are backed by programs of works, certificates of implementability, geotagging coordinates and Regional Development Council approvals to prevent a repeat of ghost or substandard projects in the flood control mess.

He set his date to sponsor the budget and deliver the committee report to the plenary on Nov. 23 to start off the plenary debates.

Ejecito vowed to realign funds for the government’s universal health care program from the Department of Health project Medical Assistance to Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients (MAIFIP), which is prone to political patronage.

While the state subsidy for the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. was cut from P129.8 billion in 2026 to P74.4 billion in the NEP, the House did not increase its funding, opting instead to double the MAIFIP budget to P48.2 billion (not P49.2 billion as earlier reported).

Ejercito said the track should be for the MAIFIP budget to go down and for the state subsidy to PhilHealth to increase.

Ejercito also vowed to restore the House cuts in the budget for foreign-assisted projects, as he pushed for the timely implementation of the administration’s legacy projects like the North-South Commuter Railway, Metro Manila Subway Project, Bataan-Cavite Interlink Bridge and Laguna Lakeshore Road Network Project.

Ejercito said while he understood the congressmen’s intention to find funds for their pet projects, these local projects should be aligned with the executive’s spending plan.