The Senate is planning to approve next year’s budget that is lower than the Executive department’s proposal under the National Expenditure Program (NEP), Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III said.

Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III (Mark Balmores/Manila Bulletin)

Sotto disclosed this during an interview at the sidelines of the turnover ceremony of the Senate mobile clinic donated by the Department of Health (DOH) on Wednesday, Nov. 5.

“Yes…we will recommend a lower budget; lower than the NEP. That’s what we plan,” Sotto told reporters in an interview.

“We saw a lot of items that can be removed. And the President himself agreed that these can be removed,” he said.

The Senate leader, however, could not give an exact amount, but the recommended NEP for 2026 amounts to P6.7-trillion.

Nevertheless, Sotto said the Senate is committed to pass a “clean budget.”

“The single most important piece of legislation right now is the budget. We need to pass a 2026 clean budget under my watch, as far as the Senate is concerned. That’s my primary objective now,” he said.

“I won’t allow (other issues) to stymie the work of the Senate, especially the Senate President’s office,” the Senate chief added.

Moreover, he said the Senate is planning to hold budget deliberations from Monday to Friday when plenary session resumes on Nov. 10 next week.

“That’s the plan…I’ll be meeting with Sen. (Sherwin) Gatchalian to discuss that,” Sotto said.

Gatchalian, who heads the Senate Committee on Finance, earlier said he plans to sponsor the General Appropriations Bill (GAB) in the plenary on Nov. 12.

Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” Lacson had also said that the Senate will block any “alien” provisions that may surface during the bicameral conference committee’s discussiono n the 2026 budget.

Lacson had also said the Senate plans to remove most unprogrammed appropriations from the 2026 national budget, except for those linked to foreign-assisted projects.