00:00The ball is now rolling on the 2026 national budget as the Senate clears the bill on second reading with lawmakers tightening the purse strings and making adjustments before the final draft is set in stone.
00:12As we hear from our Luisa Erispe.
00:16The Senate approved on second reading the proposed 2026 general appropriations bill or national budget with the amount of 6.793 trillion pesos.
00:27Mr. President, with that, I move to close the period of amendments.
00:31Is there any objection? There being none, the motion is approved.
00:36Mr. President, with that, I move to approve on second reading House Bill No. 4058 under Committee Report No. 18.
00:47Is there any objection? Hearing none, the motion is approved. House Bill No. 4058 is approved on second reading.
00:55Some of the highlight amendments to the budget is the 52.13 billion return of funds to the reduced 5% budget for the construction materials.
01:06They reducted 53 billion pesos of the fund from the Foreign Assistance Fund.
01:10The budget for the rehabilitation of areas that were damaged by calamities also increased under the NDRMC and the Local Government Assistance Fund.
01:20But right after the second hearing was approved, Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano said his vote for the approval of the budget is no.
01:29He claimed he is not content with the budget and he believes it could be improved, especially that there are still unprogrammed funds on the budget.
01:38Mr. President, I vote no as of today for the reasons I mentioned a while ago.
01:44This is such a great opportunity for a game-changer budget.
01:49It doesn't really promote rural development.
01:54The unprogrammed funds are still there.
01:57It's a good budget. Don't get me wrong, Mr. President.
02:00I'm just saying I think we can come up with something that really changes the game for the Filipino people.
02:05Senator Joel Villanueva also voted no.
02:09Though he did not explain his vote, he supported the decision of the minority leader.
02:14But Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, Chair of the Committee on Finance, said he is confident that the budget they have approved on second reading is free of red flags.
02:24However, not all amendments of senators can be accommodated due to budget constraints.
02:30May mga letters na pinapadala yung mga senators natin.
02:34So pinag-aaralan namin.
02:35Tapos yung mga, marami actually galing nung nag-present sila dito.
02:40So marami doon mga, ah, present nila dito na hindi kasama sa letters nila before.
02:46So doon kami nagtagal.
02:47Luisa Erispe from the National TV Network for a new and better Philippines.
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