Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” Lacson warned on Sunday, December 14, that restoring the items cut from the proposed budget of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) at the bicameral conference committee level will reopen the floodgates to insertion. Lacson made this...
As lawmakers start threshing out the differing provisions in their version of the 2026 national budget, senators zeroed in on the questionable budget increase for the Medical Assistance to Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients (MAIFIP) and farm-to-market roads (FMR). Senate President Pro...
Senator Imee Marcos raised concerns over the supposed absence of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) budget during the first day of the Bicameral Conference Committee hearings on the proposed 2026 national budget on Saturday, Dec. 13. During the proceedings, Marcos appeared puzzled...
Senator Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa, including three other senators were absent on the first day of the Bicameral Conference Committee hearings on the P6.793-trillion General Appropriations Bill (GAB) or proposed national budget for 2026 on Saturday, Dec. 13. A day prior, Senate Finance Committee...
The Bicarmeral Conference Committee hearings on the P6.793-trillion General Appropriations Bill (GAB) or proposed national budget for 2026 will begin Saturday, Dec. 13, with more eyes expected to watch every move of the lawmaker-participants than in any other bicam in history. For the first time...
Senator Sherwin Gatchalian hopes that Senator Ronald Dela Rosa will fulfill his duties in the upcoming Bicameral Conference Committee, or bicam, as it begins its deliberations on Saturday, Dec. 13. In a Zoom interview on Friday, Dec. 12, Gatchalian, who chairs the Senate Finance Committee, said...
Senator Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada withdrew as a member of the bicameral conference committee on the proposed 2026 national budget. Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri announced this after the Senate approved a resolution adjusting Congress’ legislative calendar to accommodate the...
The Senate on Tuesday, December 9 said it will be extending its sessions until December 23 for the passage of the P6.793-trillion national budget for 2026. It was Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri who announced the adjustment in the Upper Chamber’s legislative calendar, saying...
With 17 affirmative votes, no negative votes and zero abstention, the Senate on Tuesday, December 9 approved on third and final reading House Bill No. 4058, which contains the proposed P6.793-trillion national budget for 2026. Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance...
Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo "Ping" Lacson underscored on Saturday, Nov. 22, that the Senate will not allow the reenactment next year of the 2025 national budget--the same budget that had earlier been described as corrupt to the core. Lacson says this is why the Senate is adopting measures...
Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” Lacson on Tuesday, Nov. 18, rejected former Ako Bicol Rep. Zaldy Co’s allegations that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered ₱100 billion in budget insertions and received a supposed ₱25-billion “commission” from the amount. During the...
The Senate will no longer allow “alien” provisions to be included in the proposed P6.793-trillion national budget for 2026. Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” Lacson said this was the agreement in the Senate to make the budget process open “all the way to the bicam, and all the...
