Senate to wrap up budget hearings Oct.18

Senate building (File photo: Senate of the Philippines/Facebook)

By Leonel Abasola, Philippine News Agency

MANILA – Senate Finance Committee chairperson Grace Poe on Thursday said committee hearings on the proposed PHP6.352 trillion national budget for 2025 will be wrapped up on Oct. 18 in time for a short All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day break.

This, after President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Tuesday certified as urgent House Bill (HB) 10800 or the 2025 General Appropriation Bill (GAB) to ensure its immediate passage.

Poe said after the committee hearings and the transmittal of GAB to the Senate, her panel will start preparing the committee report for the plenary deliberations that will start when the session resumes on Nov. 4.

“We are actually ahead of schedule with hearings. Assuming all the vice chairs will submit their committee reports on time, I will be ready to sponsor by then,” she said.

Senate President Francis Escudero said it will be up to Poe to determine the schedule once the bill is transmitted to the Senate.

In his letter sent Tuesday to Escudero and House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez and Escudero, Marcos urged lawmakers to fast-track the passage of the 2025 GAB “to ensure the uninterrupted operation of critical government functions, guarantee allocation of fiscal resources for vital initiatives, and enable the government to adeptly respond to emerging challenges.”

Romualdez said the House of Representatives would act on Marcos’ request, expressing confidence that it would be approved following the certification of urgency.

In response, the House members voted 285-3 with no abstention to pass HB 10800 on the same day they approved the 2025 GAB on Wednesday night.

In his speech before the adjournment of session, Romualdez highlighted the House’s legislative efficiency, emphasizing their commitment to safeguarding national interests.

He commended the House members for their “enthusiasm, preparedness, and thorough scrutiny” of the proposed 2025 budget, leading to its prompt approval on the third and final reading.

The proposed budget makes up 22 percent of the country’s gross domestic product, which is a 10.1 percent increase from the PHP5.768 trillion budget for this year.