House breaks for Undas, sessions resume November 9

Workers do renovation works around the House of Representatives within the Batasang Pambansa Complex in Quezon City on July 3, 2024.

STAR / Miguel De Guzman

MANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives will take a nearly month-long Undas break starting today after the plenary approves on third and final reading the P7.2-trillion national budget for 2027, which the Senate will also deliberate on.

The lower chamber is expected to pass House Bill 10858 or the General Appropriations Bill (GAB) for 2027 that the appropriations committee chaired by Rep. Mikaela Suansing has been scrutinizing since mid-August.

Both the Senate and House will resume legislative sessions on Nov. 9.

The nine-day plenary debates on the Marcos administration’s proposed P7.2-trillion national budget for 2027 have been concluded by the House in late September, and the spending measure was passed on second reading last week.

“There are very many advocacies that we are pushing in the House, but the most important here is what we have been doing in the national budget. We are making sure that each and every centavo, which is hard-earned by our taxpayers, are allocated properly and spent judiciously,” Speaker Faustino Dy III said.

Meanwhile, Suansing made assurances there will be additional safeguards as they crafted the 2027 GAB, particularly on the rules and standards governing the use and evaluation of funds.

The Department of Education still had the lion’s share in the spending measure, along with the Department of Health, as government tries to strengthen the health care system.

The House’s commitment is reflected in the retention of the P1.107-trillion allocation for the education sector under the National Expenditure Program, which remains at the same level in the House GAB approved on second reading.

Realignments were made within the sector, funneling funds from programs with billions of pesos in unutilized appropriations toward priority programs requiring more urgent support, without any reduction in the overall education budget.

A total of P10.055 billion in additional allocations was directed toward education programs, supporting school safety, inclusive learning, academic recovery and access to quality tertiary education.

Among the approved amendments is support for students pursuing higher education, including an additional P2.10 billion for the Tertiary Education Subsidy.

The House also approved a P12.23-billion increase in the health sector’s budget, raising its allocation from P346.59 billion under the NEP to P358.82 billion under the GAB approved on second reading.