Ejercito: Senate won't rubber-stamp House budget

Senate Finance Committee Chairperson JV Ejercito vowed Tuesday to meticulously review the House of Representatives’ version of the P7.2-trillion national budget bill amid mounting criticism from watchdogs alleging pork-barrel allocations.

The statement came a day after the House’s approval of the budget by a vote of 282-13-1. The Senate has yet to receive a copy of the 2027 General Appropriations Bill the House passed.

Ejercito assured that questionable line items will be corrected and that funding for key programs that saw significant budget cuts will be restored.

“We will not simply accept whatever the House has passed. If our review reveals unreasonable reallocations or pivotal programs with insufficient funding, then we will pursue the necessary corrections in the Senate version,” he stressed.

As the budget sponsor of the Senate’s version of the bill, Ejercito said the chamber will prioritize healthcare services and strengthen the calamity fund ahead of the anticipated Super El Niño and address a major funding slash to foreign-assisted railway projects that could see the government incur billions in commitment fees and penalties and strain ties with Japan.

Recall that the allocations for the Metro Manila Subway Project (MMSP) and the North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR) were gutted in recent budgets, allegedly to make room for lawmakers’ “insertions” for their pet projects, including those related to flood control.

The MMSP and the NSCR are flagship projects under President Marcos Jr.'s “Build Better More” and are financed primarily by the Japan International Cooperation Agency through a loan.

The MMSP and the NSCR are flagship projects under President Marcos Jr.'s “Build Better More” and are financed primarily by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) through a loan.

Th e MMSP and NSCR’s completion date was initially scheduled for on or before Marcos stepped down from office in 2028. But due to the budget blunders, the MMSP’s completion date was moved to 2032, while the NSCR’s full operation date was extended until 2033, although the DOTR said partial operations, covering the Valenzuela-to-Malolos segment, are expected in December 2027.

The Senate leadership has vowed to implement strict safeguards and keep the 2027 budget free from “last-minute insertions” and questionable allocations to prevent a recurrence of the flood control scandal.

“One of the most challenging times to be finance chair is right after the flood control scam. The challenge is great to restore our people’s trust in the budget process,” Ejercito said.

Budget watchdogs and a handful of opposition lawmakers from the House denounced the House-approved budget for alleged lack of transparency in realignments, cuts to social services at the expense of infrastructure and discretionary funds, and being an “election-centered” budget despite one year away from the 2028 elections.