By Tracy Cabrera
Senate President Sherwin ‘Win’ Gatchalian has assured the country’s business sector that the Senate would vet the proposed ₱7.2 trillion 2027 national budget, promising to strip away all politically driven, technically baseless congressional insertions.
Gatchalian’s pronouncement came in direct response to a joint manifesto issued by major business groups which raised concerns over ₱180 billion in realignments introduced by the House of Representatives under House Bill 10858.
The proposed budget bill was formally filed and sponsored by Nurva Ecija District I representative Mikaela Angela ‘Mika’ Suansing (Mika Suansing), chairperson of the House Committee on Appropriations.
The business community’s joint call exposed a massive realignment by the House Budget Amendments and Review Subcommittee (BARSC), which added over ₱180 billion to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) allocation.
The adjustments reportedly inflated the DPWH project registry by 6,212 items—bringing the total to 16,270 projects—many of which are classified as vague lump sums for multi-purpose buildings and bypass roads lacking named proponents or published project lists.
Of greater concern to the business sector was the source of the funding, which the House reportedly carved out ₱130 billion from rigorously prepared, foreign-assisted infrastructure projects, ₱9.5 billion from calamity funds, ₱4.9 billion from vital healthcare programs, and ₱1.76 billion from the EDSA Busway project.
“Raiding calamity funds in a country that is exposed to disasters is indefensible,” the business groups stated in its manifesto, warning that cutting foreign-assisted projects delays high-impact infrastructure needed to reduce logistics costs and attract capital.
The sector noted that past unvetted insertions between 2023 and 2025 resulted in “ghost and substandard flood control projects” that wasted public funds.
Gatchalian welcomed the private sector’s vigilance, maintaining that a clean budget can be delivered without delaying its timely passage.
He reassured investors and the public that the Senate is committed to fiscal discipline, stating that a formal recall of the House-approved General Appropriations Bill was unnecessary.
He added that the Senate will address the discrepancies through its own committee and plenary review processes.
“The Senate Committee on Finance will remove from the General Appropriations Bill all projects lacking supporting documents, such as feasibility studies, programs of work, resolutions from the LGUs, and other required documents,” he stressed.
To ensure public oversight, Gatchalian expressed strict commitment to implement deep transparency reforms.
“We will continue the transparency reforms by uploading all relevant information to the Senate Transparency Portal,” he pointed out.
Moreover, the Senate leader asserted that the Upper Chamber will actively remove unconstitutional and lump-sum provisions previously flagged by the Supreme Court—specifically tightening safeguards on unprogrammed appropriations—while keeping final spending strictly within the president’s recommended ceiling in the National Expenditure Program (NEP).