Poe appeals for sobriety in budget talks amid contentious issues

Metro Manila, Philippines — The Senate and the House of Representatives convened the bicameral conference committee to finalize the 2025 national budget, with the head of the Senate contingent calling for sobriety amid contentious provisions.

“My only plea is for us conferees not to take ourselves too seriously. Kung sobrang init na ang diskusyon mamaya, baka kailangan natin ng (If the discussion gets too heated later, perhaps we’ll need a) coffee break, to settle our differences,” Senator Grace Poe, chairperson of the committee on finance, said as she opened the meeting on Thursday, Nov. 28.

Her counterpart, Zaldy Co, also called on colleagues to “approach this deliberation with a spirit of unity.”

Over the past two months, debates escalated over the Office of the Vice President's P2-billion budget, which was substantially cut to P733 million. While some senators pushed to restore the funding partially or fully, the Senate upheld the cut, and Poe said the bicam would resolve the issue.

Another sore point is the House-initiated Ayuda Para sa Kapos ang Kita or AKAP, a social assistance program for low-income Filipinos. The House allocated P39 billion for the program, but the Senate defunded it, saying congressmen should justify the need for it amid other social aid programs.

Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero and House Speaker Martin Romualdez attended the bicam meeting. In recent years, only the two houses’ finance committee chairpersons would head the bicam meetings.

In his speech, Romualdez called on lawmakers to “keep things practical and straightforward; we don’t need to complicate this.”

Escudero noted the need to pass the budget on time.

“Mahaba at kumplikado man inaasahan ko na sa takdang panahon pa rin sa darating na linggo, bago tayo mag-adjourn para sa Christmas break ito ay matatapos mapagtitibay ng magkabilang conference panel at maibibigay sa pangulo bago mag Pasko para kanyang ma review at mapagtibay ito bago pumasok ang darating na taon,” Escudero said.

[Translation: Although long and complicated, I expect that in due time, next week before we adjourn for the Christmas break, this will be finalized and approved by both conference panels and submitted to the President for review and approval before the new year begins.]

Instead of holding a public meeting, Senator Joel Villanueva moved to let the technical working group scrutinize the Senate and House versions to keep up with tradition. There were no objections.

The bicam will again convene on Dec. 9 to approve a final version of the proposed General Appropriations Bill.