Senate finance committee leaders announced that the chamber’s majority bloc is united in backing efforts to strip unwarranted allocations from the proposed 2027 national budget, setting up a legislative clash as plenary debates approach on November 9.
The Senate Push to Cleanse the 2027 Outlay
Sen. Panfilo Lacson stated in a post on X that the majority of senators are rallying behind Senate Finance Committee Chairman Sen. JV Ejercito to eliminate what he described as unwarranted, whimsical, and corruption-prone items from the spending bill. Lacson emphasized that the chamber is taking a gung-ho approach toward scrubbing the measure, noting that “all means all” when it comes to legislative scrutiny.
The push follows widespread public scrutiny over red flags in the House-approved version of the General Appropriations Bill. Budget watchdogs, including the People’s Budget Coalition, recently presented findings to a Senate hearing detailing patronage-driven insertions exceeding a trillion pesos, alongside anomalies such as farm-to-market road coordinates plotting to open ocean waters. More than 30 business groups—including the Makati Business Club, the Management Association of the Philippines, and the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry—have warned that unchecked legislative insertions threaten fiscal space and investor confidence.
Opening the Bicameral Talks to the Public
To prevent last-minute alterations, Ejercito vowed to open and livestream the upcoming congressional bicameral committee deliberations to public scrutiny, inviting civil society organizations to observe proceedings traditionally held behind closed doors. Ejercito stated that bringing outside eyes into the bicameral room will help catch unvetted projects before the spending bill reaches final approval.
These transparency measures build on initiatives by the Senate finance committee, which on October 26 dedicated an entire hearing to civil society groups. During that session, watchdogs presented independent analyses utilizing digital monitoring tools such as BetterGov.ph, which have since been integrated into the Senate’s Budget Transparency Portal. Ejercito has also filed Senate Bill No. 2577, the proposed Grassroots Participatory Budgeting Act, and Senate Bill No. 2576, the Bantay Budget Act, to institutionalize citizen participation in future budget cycles.
The majority of senators are rallying behind Senate Finance Committee Chairman JV Ejercito’s efforts to cleanse the 2027 budget of unwarranted, whimsical, and corruption-prone items. — “ALL MEANS ALL!”
— https://x.com/iampinglacson/status/2116734941644063211
No Sacred Cows in Plenary Review
Addressing whether any lawmakers would be shielded from the review—including the substantial net increase in public works allocations directed to the congressional district of Sandro Marcos—Lacson answered affirmatively in an interview with One News. “If we make exceptions, many will ask for exceptions and we won’t succeed because there will be plea bargaining,” Lacson said.
Lacson noted that while he is unaware of any majority bloc members sneaking pet projects into the Senate version, the scrutiny will spare no one. Ejercito and Lacson’s committee work will face its next major test when the Senate officially resumes plenary sessions on November 9, at which point lawmakers will begin introducing amendments to restore funding cuts and reverse House-approved changes.
