Senate plenary debates on 2025 budget to begin Nov. 6 - Poe

Metro Manila, Philippines – The Senate plenary debates on the proposed 2025 budget will begin on Nov. 6, finance committee chairperson Sen. Grace Poe said on Saturday.

In a radio interview, Poe said interpellations for the P6.352 trillion proposal are set for Nov. 6 to 19.

The lawmaker said she will submit the committee report and sponsor the Senate bill - on Tuesday, Nov. 5.

The House of Representatives transmitted its version of the General Appropriations Bill to the upper chamber on Oct. 24.

“Syempre meron talagang pagkakaiba dahil iba-iba naman ang pananaw at adbokasiya ng bawat bahay, ang Kamara at Senado. Pero hindi naman ganun kalaki ang difference. So malalaman naman natin ang mga partikular kapag nagdebate na tayo,” she told DWIZ 882 when asked about the difference between the House and Senate versions.

[Translation: Of course, there are really differences because each house, the House of Representatives and the Senate, has its own perspectives and advocacies. But the difference isn't that significant. We'll learn about the specifics when we start debating]

Poe said the bicameral conference committee (bicam) is set on Nov. 28 to 30, with the bicam expected to sign the proposal on Dec. 9.

“Ang transmittal sa DBM Dec. 19. Usually naman nasusunod lahat ito at kung titingnan natin ang schedule nung nakaraan basically pareho lang o may napaaga tayo sa ibang proseso ng mga dalawa o tatlong araw,” she said.

[Translation: The transmittal to the DBM (Department of Budget and Management) is on December 19. Usually, all of this is followed, and if we look at the schedule from before, it's basically the same, or we’ve expedited some processes by two or three days]

More transparent bicam?

The Senate finance committee head said she supports calls to be more transparent in the bicam.

The committee is composed of representatives from the House and Senate, tasked to convene and resolve differences of the version of both Houses. But unlike the committee and plenary hearings, these sessions are traditionally conducted behind closed-doors and are not available for streaming.

Poe said she is in favor of recording the bicam hearing.

“Generally, para sa akin pwede naman talaga pakinggan kung anuman ang nangyayari sa bicam. Pero ang masasabi ko kung anuman ang ginawa rin dati ni Senator Chiz na sinasabi nyang transparent sa Finance Committee ganun din ang gagawin natin, hindi naman natin itatago ang dokumento na iyon,” she said.

[Translation: Generally, I believe we can listen to whatever is happening in the bicam. However, I can say that whatever Senator Chiz did before, claiming it was transparent in the Finance Committee, is exactly what we will do; we won’t hide that document]

NewsWatch Plus correspondent Lance Mejico contributed to this report