Senate targets budget approval by mid-December at the latest

THE SENATE plans to approve the proposed P6.352-trillion national budget for 2025 by the second week of December at the latest, in time to submit the legislation to the Palace before Congress adjourns, Senate President Francis G. Escudero said.

“By tradition and by practice, bicameral conference committee deliberations of Congress last more or less two weeks, maximum,” Mr. Escudero said at a briefing.

“Before we adjourn, we need to send this (budget) to Malacañang since we won’t be in session, so we are hoping to approve the budget at the latest the second week of December and at the earliest, first week of December.”

He said the Senate is aiming to start plenary debate on the proposed national spending plan by the second week of November once it is sponsored to the floor by around Nov. 6.

Senate Finance Committee Chair Mary Grace Natividad S. Poe-Llamanzares has said the House of Representatives is set to transmit the General Appropriations Bill by Oct. 25.

She said senators were on track to wrap up committee deliberations on the individual budgets of government agencies by Oct. 18.

The House approved its version of the General Appropriations Bill on Sept. 25, ahead of its month-long break and 58 days after receiving the spending plan from the executive branch.

President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. has certified the bill as urgent, allowing Congress to do away with the typical three-day interval between bill readings.

Under the 2025 National Expenditure Program, the Budget department slashed the proposed budgets for agriculture, health, and social welfare sectors by 4.7%, 7.6%, and 3.4%, respectively. — John Victor D. Ordoñez