Photo source: Vicente Tito Sotto/ Facebook
Senate President Vicente Sotto III on Monday warned against further delays in deliberating the proposed 2026 national budget, stressing that the “most corrupt budget” of the current year should not be allowed to be reenacted.
In an interview, Sotto said the Senate’s period of amendments would push through on December 2 despite recent schedule setbacks.
“[We were already delayed by one day because of Friday’s additional period of interpellation. Then we’re delayed again today… So it really can’t be postponed tomorrow],” he said.
Asked if he feared that the 2025 budget could be carried over next year, Sotto insisted the Senate would block any reenactment. “Let’s not delay it because the budget we would be reenacting is the most corrupt. So we will not allow that,” he said.
The 2025 General Appropriations Act has been hounded by corruption allegations involving infrastructure-heavy allocations, suspicious insertions, duplicate entries, and alleged misallocation away from social services.
The Senate was supposed to open proposed amendments on Monday, but work was suspended after a fire broke out in the upper chamber’s building.
Senate Secretary Renato Bantug earlier announced that the session hall sustained water seepage due to fire suppression efforts, particularly affecting the office of the Legislative Technical Affairs Bureau on the third floor.
In a separate briefing, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, chair of the finance panel, admitted concerns about a reenacted budget given the “very tight timeline” for approving the 2026 spending plan.
He noted that ratification is set for December 17, with Malacañang’s signing scheduled for December 29 — “just two days before the New Year,” leaving staff with little room to prepare the enrolled copy.
Gatchalian later clarified that despite the pressure, all concerns over a possible reenactment are being addressed within the remaining time.