With time running out, budget gets attention
The Senate will balance its time between the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte and its deliberations on the proposed P7.2-trillion 2027 national budget, with Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian saying the lawmakers must ensure that neither proceeding is compromised.
The Senate has not gotten past half of the budget hearings, Gatchalian said, while the impeachment court continues its proceedings on 12 and 13 October.
“We cannot sacrifice the budget for the impeachment, and vice versa. We want quality work, quality debate, quality analysis,” he said in a radio interview on Saturday.
Budget hearings are scheduled on 13 to 16 October. At the trial, the prosecution’s formal offer of evidence on 14 October will involve documentary submissions rather than a full day of proceedings, allowing senators to attend to budget deliberations, Gatchalian said.
Plenary by 9 November
The Senate is targeting the week of 9 November to sponsor the budget in plenary, followed by floor deliberations and a bicameral conference committee to reconcile the Senate and House versions.
Gatchalian warned that failing to enact the budget before yearend would leave the government operating under a reenacted budget, which he said would harm the economy.
The Senate also aims to conclude Duterte’s impeachment trial before the end of 2026, with the timeline depending partly on the defense’s presentation of evidence.
The senator-judges must closely examine the basis for financial forensic expert Alexander Cabrera’s findings that were revealed in his impeachment trial testimony, Gatchalian said.
He said the financial records Cabrera presented must form a logical, evidence-based account that the senator-judges can independently assess, rather than accept solely because they came from an expert witness.
The Senate President said Cabrera’s testimony was significant because it consolidated financial information obtained from multiple sources, including the Anti-Money Laundering Council, banks, insurance companies, and the Bureau of Internal Revenue.
Gatchalian, who previously chaired the Senate committees on economic affairs, ways and means, and finance, said interpreting the financial records required specialized expertise, particularly because the data covered nearly 18 years.
Mans feels heat
Cabrera told the impeachment court on Friday that Duterte and her husband, lawyer Manases “Mans” Carpio, had P817.87 million in alleged undeclared assets and income from 2022 to 2025. His estimate covered cash, properties, income, and business interests attributed to the couple.
Carpio said he felt persecuted amid the impeachment proceedings against his wife, describing himself as “collateral damage” as their financial records came under scrutiny.
Speaking at a 1Bukidnon4 Sara Duterte Movement event in Valencia City on Thursday, Carpio said he felt he was being treated unfairly.
“I feel like I’m being persecuted a bit now,” Carpio said in Bisaya in a video posted on Facebook by local broadcaster RMN-Malaybalay.
“Everything in the government is being used. It’s as if I’m the one who was impeached,” he added.