House budget deliberations to proceed despite Sara Duterte impeachment trial — Abante

The ongoing impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte in the Senate will not disrupt the House of Representatives’ upcoming deliberations on the proposed P7.2-trillion national budget for 2027, a lawmaker said Saturday.

“I don't think it will be affected,” Manila 6th District Representative Bienvenido “Benny” Abante Jr. said at a news forum in Quezon City.

The House Committee on Appropriations is set to begin deliberations on the proposed National Expenditure Program (NEP) for fiscal year 2027, which was submitted by the executive branch this week, on Monday, August 17.

The House is targeting to approve the proposed national budget by October 9.

"Palagay ko hindi naman sapagkat nakita naman natin na pagkatapos, four hours lang ang impeachment court sa umaga, three o'clock, deliberations na ‘yan,” Abante said.

(I don't think it will [be affected] because, as we have seen, the impeachment court only sits for four hours in the morning. By 3 p.m., the deliberations [on the budget] can already begin.)

The budget process begins when the President submits the proposed annual budget in the form of the NEP.

The proposed budget is first submitted to the House, which assigns the initial review to the Committee on Appropriations.

The Appropriations Committee, together with the other House subcommittees, conducts hearings on the budgets of government departments and agencies and scrutinizes their respective programs and projects.

The amended budget proposal is then presented to the House as the General Appropriations Bill (GAB).

While budget hearings are ongoing in the House, the Senate Committee on Finance, through its various subcommittees, also begins its review and scrutiny of the proposed budget. It then proposes amendments to the House-approved budget bill for consideration by the Senate.

To resolve differences and arrive at a common version of the budget measure, the House and the Senate form a bicameral conference committee, which finalizes the GAB. Once approved by the President, it becomes the General Appropriations Act. — VBL, GMA News