The Senate on Thursday approved on second reading House Bill 4068, the P6.793-trillion 2026 General Appropriations Bill.
Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri moved to close the period of amendments, paving the way for the chamber’s approval of the proposed 2026 national budget on second reading.
Only Senators Joel Villanueva and Alan Peter Cayetano opposed the passage of the bill, saying that the budget does not promote development in the countryside.
Earlier in the day, Senate Finance Committee chair Sherwin Gatchalian submitted the general summary of House Bill 4058, which was accepted by the senators.
“The Bills and Index Service has distributed an electronic copy of the general summary of House Bill No. 4058 as amended via email to the offices of the senators. With the consent of the body, I move that the general summary be accepted as the amendment to House Bill No. 4058 and, accordingly, that we close the period of amendments on the measure using the said general summary as our basis,” Gatchalian said.
He said most of the senators’ proposed amendments were approved, noting that some requests came from government agencies. “I would say the 2026 GAB is clean, meaning it was detailed and validated,” he said.
Gatchalian added that the complete details, including the line-by-line amendments and attachments, will be released on Saturday, 6 December, ahead of the approval of the 2026 GAB on third reading.
The Senate has scheduled the third and final reading on the measure on 9 December.
Both chambers of Congress aim to ratify the 2026 national budget by 17 December and transmit it to the Office of the President on 29 December.