Escudero asks House to transmit budget bill before Oct. 25

Senate President Francis "Chiz" Escudero on Wednesday asked the House of Representatives to submit its version of the General Appropriations Bill, which contains the proposed P6.352-trillion national budget for 2025, earlier than the October 25 scheduled transmittal.

Escudero disclosed this appeal in a press conference as he laid out the Senate's timeline for the approval of their version of the 2025 budget bill.

"Ayon sa Kamara, isa-submit nila ang GAB o General Appropriations Bill—ito ang bersyon ng kamara ng budget para sa darating na taon sa October 25. Sabi ko, baka puwedeng mas maaga kung kaya para mas ma-review na namin pero ang timeline nila ay October 25," Escudero said.

(According to the House of Representatives, they will submit the GAB or General Appropriations Bill—this is the House version of the budget for the upcoming year on October 25. I said, maybe it could be earlier if possible so we can review it earlier, but their timeline is October 25.)

Should the GAB be transmitted to the Senate on October 25, Escudero said they are eyeing the sponsorship of their version of the budget bill on November 5 or 6.

"Baka masimulan na rin namin ang interpellations sa general principles ng November 5 or 6 at magpapatuloy ang plenary debates the following week," he said.

(We will likely start the interpellations on general principles around November 5 or 6, and plenary debates will continue the following week.)

Escudero said they expect that the Senate version of the budget bill will be approved in two weeks after its sponsorship, as they will continue the tradition of conducting plenary debates until wee hours.

The Senate president is also expecting the bicameral conference committee deliberations to run for two weeks.

"Bago kami mag-adjourn, kailangan 'yan mapadala sa Malacañang dahil wala na kaming sesyon. So inaasahan namin maaprubahan ang budget at the latest second week of December, at the earliest first week of December," he said.

(The budget bill should be sent to Malacañang before we adjourn. So, we're expecting the budget to be approved at the latest by the second week of December or at the earliest, first week of December.)

Citing his conversation with Senate finance committee chairperson Grace Poe and the Legislative Budget Research and Monitoring Office (LBRMO), Escudero said that the committee deliberations on the budget proposals of each government agency are "on track" and they are expected to finish the hearings by the end of October.

Asked about the possibility that Vice President Sara Duterte will skip the Senate's budget deliberations, as she did in the House of Representatives, Escudero said, "Natuto na ako na huwag mag-expect ng kahit ano. Ma-surprise na lang tayo."

(I realized I shouldn't expect anything. Let's just be surprised.)

"Hindi ko puwede ikumpara dahil nag-attend siya dito. Bagaman nagkaroon ng konting gusot, konting konti lang 'yon hindi rason para i-defer ang budget," he said.

(I can't compare it because she attended the budget hearings here. Although there was a bit of concern, it's just a minor issue, which is not a reason to defer the budget.)

The vice president said last week that she would attend the Senate budget deliberations.

Escudero said that Poe will be defending the budget of the OVP on behalf of Duterte.

"Pagdating ng plenary debates, hindi naman na sasagot ang head of agency. Ang sasagot ay ang sponsor na sa anumang katanungan ng isang senador. So sa kaso na ito, si Senator Grace na bilang chairperson ang sasagot ng mga katanungan kaugnay sa budget ng OVP," he said.

(During plenary debates, it's not the head of the agency who answers questions, but the sponsor, who will address any queries raised by a senator. In this case, Senator Grace, as the chairperson, will provide answers to questions related to the OVP budget.)

The House of Representatives approved their version of the GAB on September 25 with the help of President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.'s certification of the measure as urgent.

The bill containing the national budget should be approved and signed by the president before the end of every fiscal year to avoid a reenacted budget for the following year.  —VBL, GMA Integrated News