CONGRESSMEN on Wednesday asked the Senate to extend the legislative calendar until Oct. 13 to give the House of Representatives time to approve on final reading next year’s spending plan ahead of the congressional recess.
The House floor approved House Resolution No. 320 via voice vote, seeking the Senate’s consent to extend its plenary session by one day beyond the scheduled Oct. 10 break. Lawmakers immediately transmitted the proposal to the Senate for consideration.
“Following the expected approval of the General Appropriations Bill FY 2026 on second reading on Oct. 10, 2025, members of the House will require the constitutionally mandated period of three days to study and review the final version of the bill prior to nominal voting on third and final reading,” according to the resolution, authored by Speaker Faustino “Bojie” G. Dy III, Majority Leader Ferdinand Alexander “Sandro” A. Marcos III, Minority Leader Marcelino C. Libanan and Nueva Ecija Rep. Mikaela Angela B. Suansing.
Congressmen last week opened floor debates on the record P6.793-trillion spending bill following 37 days of scrutiny at the House Appropriations Committee.
The lower chamber is set to tackle the proposed budgets of Congress and the Department of the Interior and Local Government, among others, alongside opposition speeches from minority lawmakers on Oct. 2, Thursday, according to a copy of the budget scheduled shared to reporters. Budgetary tweaks were scheduled until Oct. 10.
This year’s budget process underwent major reforms after Ms. Suansing, who heads the House appropriations panel, pushed for greater transparency following last year’s controversy over alleged insertions in the spending plan.
Amendments to the budget bill were previously managed by a closed-door “small committee” of select lawmakers, with the measure swiftly approved on second and third reading on the same day.
“This extension is hereby sought in faithful compliance with the requirements of the 1987 Constitution,” the resolution stated.
The fast-tracked process was made possible by President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.’s certification of the budget bill as urgent, waiving the required three-day interval between second and third readings. — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio
