House set to discuss amendments to proposed 2027 budget

MANILA, Philippines – Lawmakers will publicly discuss amendments to the proposed P7.2-trillion 2027 national budget, as the House of Representatives is set to take up the budget bill for plenary discussions on Tuesday.

A sub-committee with members from major political parties and the minority bloc are expected to meet late this week or early next week to hammer out proposed tweaks to House Bill No. 10858, the 2027 spending measure that was submitted by the House Appropriations Committee to the floor on Monday for debate, according to Nueva Ecija Rep. Mikaela Angela Suansing, who heads that panel.

“There are no amendments in the budget that we will not deliberate openly to the public,” she told reporters.

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Suansing’s assurance that her panel will convene the Budget Amendments Review Sub-committee (BARSc) comes as the spending bill heads to the floor for wider debate by the 318-member chamber.

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Legislators can cut and tweak proposed funding at their discretion.

Last year, the budget process underwent sweeping reforms to make scrutiny more open to the public after widespread criticism that past processes left room for so-called insertions that feed into corruption. 

Those reforms include abolishing a “small committee” of select lawmakers tasked with finalizing the House’s budget bill behind closed doors, an opaque process that hid late-stage revisions. 

Suansing said lawmakers “designed the BARSc” to run in parallel alongside plenary discussions.

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“Looks like what will happen is that while the plenary debates are running, we will be deliberating,” she said.

The panel plans to hold two hearings: first to tackle each agencies’ proposed tweaks and later to consider amendments raised during debate, according to Suansing.

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Last year, the BARSc rechanneled about P255 billion stashed for flood control funding towards education, food and health programs ahead of wider talks at the House floor. 

Suansing said education funding has emerged as a key area lawmakers may revisit, citing concerns over shortfalls for teacher hiring and catch‑up learning programs.

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“There are those items that we can see that need to be addressed when amending the budget,” she said in English and Filipino.  /gsg