The Senate assured that it would remain on track on its timeline to pass the 2026 General Appropriations Bill (GAB) even if its scheduled second reading was postponed on Wednesday, and rescheduled on Thursday.

Various amendments were raised by various Senators since the plenary deliberation started on Tuesday, 2 December, for the P6.793-trillion 2026 National Budget.

“We have to be transparent. We cannot pass anything without the final print. We are working overtime tomorrow to avoid delays,” said Majority Leader Senator Miguel Zubiri in an ambush interview.

Originally, Senate lawmakers are targeting 3 December to pass the 2026 GAB on second reading, 9 December for the 3^rd reading.

Both Houses of Congress are targeting to ratify the 2026 national budget by 17 December and submit it to the Office of the President on the 29^th of this month.

For his part, Senate Finance Committee Chair Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, said a lot of items and suggestions from Senators remain lacking in the 2026 GAB.

“We have more than enough days. We are still on target. We are eyeing to start the third reading on Tuesday (9 December). For the bicam, we are expecting a tougher debate, that’s the process,” he said in Filipino, but assured that a reenacted budget is impossible at this time.

“Syempre lahat ng nag-submit ng amendments, gusto mapagbigyan. But it is subject to fiscal space,” he said.

Zubiri said this year’s budget deliberation is the most transparent, unlike before, when amendments were just being given to the Committee Chairperson, who made the controversial ‘insertions’.

“Hindi na to tinatawag na insertions, these are actually proper amendments done in the plenary floor, approved by the body, witnessed by the media and civil society. Amendments of each Senator can be seen on the Senate website,” Zubiri said.

Various agencies get budget amendments from Senate President Vicente Sotto III and Senator Panfilo Lacson during plenary deliberation on the proposed 2026 GAB that started Tuesday.

Sotto files tweaks on the proposed budget of the Department of Education worth P6 Million; P600 million for various amendments of Department of Health projects; P185 million for the Commission on Higher Education.

Lacson, on the other hand, proposed amendments for the Department of Public Works and Highways, deducting P2 billion from the central office’s payments of right-of-way, which he said, are redundant as funds are already allocated regionally, and State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) asking for an increase of P30 million for the UP National College of Public Administration and Governance Governance Reform, Innovation and Transformation Collaboratory, which has served as a cross-disciplinary platform that develops informed data analytics, evidence-based research and capacity-building programs.

Also, Lacson proposed amendments for the budget of the Department of Transportation, an increase of P400 million for the construction of the DOTr-Cordillera Administrative Region  Regional Office; increase of P90.991 million for the Anti-Red Tape Authority to fully implement the Ease of Doing Business Act, and the deletion of the Tulong Dunong Program and transfer of P2.728 billion to the Tertiary Education Subsidy of the Commission on Higher Education to address the funding gap affecting more than 2.3 million unaccommodated students.

Moreover, Lacson is seeking additional allocations of P243.79 million to operationalize the newly created Judicial Integrity Office for fiscal year 2026 of the Supreme Court and Lower Courts; increase of P223.664 million for staffing and personnel services; and an additional P28.5 million to support the DAP Graduate School of Public and Development Management’s continuing education for improving the technical and leadership capacities of government employees of the Development Academy of the Philippines.