House opposition urges Senate to address 'illegal' provisions of 2027 budget

Opposition lawmakers in the House of Representatives have asked the Senate Finance Committee to address the "illegal" provisions of the House-approved P7.2 trillion proposed national budget for 2027 if the House leadership won’t recall its approval.

House Deputy Minority Leader Antonio Tinio of Alliance of Concerned Teachers party-list and Assistant Minority Leader Renee Co of Kabataan party-list made the call in the aftermath of the Supreme Court decision declaring the 2024, 2025 and portions of 2026 national budget unconstitutional.

Likewise, the Supreme Court ruled in the same decision that lump-sum appropriations under the said national budget in various years that have no clear purpose are unconstitutional.

Tinio and Co cited that the House-approved 2027 budget has illegal provisions based on the Supreme Court ruling that came out two days ago, such as the P50 billion Armed Forces of the Philippines modernization fund and P42 billion Financial Assistance to Local Government Units, which are lump-sum amounts.

“Our call is for the recall of House Bill 10858 (proposed P7.2 trillion national budget for 2027). Kung hindi po ito gagawin ng House, the last opportunity para matanggal ang mga illegal provisions ng 2027 GAB (General Appropriations Bill) for now ay sa Senado o kaya naman po sa bicameral conference committee (bicam),” Co said in a press conference.

(If recall won't be done, then this should be addressed by the Senate finance panel or the Bicameral Conference Committee.)

The bicam reconciles the House and Senate versions of the proposed national budget.

“Malinaw na kailangang umaksyon ang Kongreso para maging compliant sa Supreme Court decision. Kung hindi, muling maidedeklarang unconstitutional ang ibang bahagi ng budget for 2027,” Tinio added.

(It is clear that Congress needs to act to make the 2027 budget compliant with the Supreme Court ruling. Otherwise, the Supreme Court will declare portions of the 2027 national budget unconstitutional again.)

In response, Senate Finance panel chairperson JV Ejercito said that the House recalling its third reading approval of the national budget is not the solution at this point.

“Ako, I am worried on that kasi kapag ginawa ‘yun, most likely, hindi tayo papasa, mukhang hindi natin maipapasa by year-end ang budget. Kasi very tight na,” Ejercito said in an ambush interview.

(I’m worried about that because if that happens, it’s highly likely that we won’t be able to pass the budget by year-end because the timeline is already very tight.)

Ejercito also cited several factors that may affect the budget timeline should the House GAB be recalled, such as the upcoming 49th ASEAN Summit and Related Meetings and the resumption of the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.

He thus suggested that disagreeing provisions of the proposed 2027 budget be reconciled during the bicameral conference committee meetings instead.

“Sana sa bicam na lang natin ayusin ito kung saka-sakali. Tutal, hindi naman lahat ito…iba na ngayon ang bicam, talagang pinag-uusapan na hindi na tulad dati. Wala ng small committee. At least, we're transparent, lahat naman ito will be televised,” Ejercito added.

(Hopefully, we can just resolve this during the bicameral conference. After all, the bicam is different now. There’s no more small committee. At the very least, we’re being transparent and the entire process would be televised.) —LDF, GMA News