Office of the President's budget gets Senate panel nod in 16 minutes

The proposed budget of the Office of the President for 2027 was passed by the Senate committee on finance in 16 minutes.

The budget of the Office of the President has traditionally breezed through the budget hearing, being swiftly granted panel approval in less than an hour as a matter of interparliamentary courtesy.

Executive Secretary Ralph Recto presented the OP’s proposed P10.15 billion budget—a 64% drop from the 2026 budget.

“Rest assured, we crafted this proposed budget strictly, within the parameters and processes established by the DBM. We sought no special treatment. We submit this proposal to Congress’ constitutional authority and with readiness to answer any and all of your questions,” he said.

The senators were friendly with their old colleague, as Recto was a long-time senator who served several Congresses with them. It was Recto’s first time to present the OP’s budget after former executive secretary Lucas Bersamin resigned from his post in 2025.

Even before Recto presented the budget, Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian already moved to pass the OP’s budget.

“Typically meron tayong interparliamentary courtesy na binibigay sa Office of the President, pero hindi lang interparliamentary courtesy, mayroon pang inter-senator courtesy dahil and head ay isang former inter-colleague,” Gatchalian said.

(Typically we give interparliamentary courtesy to the Office of the President, but it is not just interparliamentary courtesy, we also have inter-senator courtesy because the head is a former inter-colleague).

Senators Joel Villanueva and Kiko Pangilinan had similar sentiments.

“It’s so weird to see our former colleague on the other side of the table,” Villanueva said.

Meanwhile, Pangilinan said that while he agreed with the interparliamentary courtesy, he asked for a separate meeting with the Anti-Agricultural Sabotage Council to get updates on their activities.

Senate finance chairperson JV Ejercito said that the OP’s budget is still subject to questioning during the plenary phase, but it is deemed submitted.

“With that, the budget of the Office of the President, and the Presidential Management Staff is now deemed submitted for the plenary’s submission,” he said.

The Committee on Finance's hearing began at 4:30 p.m. and the budget was deemed submitted by 4:46 p.m. —AOL, GMA News