Senate eyes concurrent budget, plenary sessions amid VP trial

WIN. Senator Sherwin Gatchalian takes over the rostrum after being elected Senate president during a special session on June 17, 2026. Angie de Silva/Rappler Pressed for time, the Senate is eyeing to allow concurrent budget deliberations and plenary sessions to avoid budget delay passage amid Sara Duterte's impeachment trial MANILA, Philippines – Senators are considering to allow the Senate committee on finance to hold hearings on the proposed P7.2 trillion national budget concurrent with plenary sessions. Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian announced the move on Thursday, August 27, as the upper chamber formally opened deliberations on the 2027 National Expenditure Program (NEP) amid the ongoing impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte. Gatchalian also explained this is to prevent a reenacted budget for 2027. “We’re going to adjust yung legislative time namin. Papayagan namin ang committee on finance lang magkaroon ng hearing while plenary is in session. Bawal yun eh pero we will suspend the rules for the committee on finance para kahit nagpe-plenary kami, pwede silang mag-hearing,” he said. (We are going to adjust our legislative time. We will allow the committee on finance to conduct hearings while plenary is in session. That is normally prohibited, but we will suspend the rules for the finance committee so they can hold hearings during plenary.) The finance committee is considering conducting the budget hearings starting the second week of September from Mondays to Fridays, according to the Senate chief. However, the panel will hold the deliberations on afternoons of Mondays to Wednesdays to accommodate the impeachment trial. “Kapag impeachment mahirap yun, kailangan andito ang senator-judges. But with plenary, magiging flexible kami para mahabol ng committee on finance ang schedule dahil ngayon kalahating araw [ang] na-take up na ng impeachment so wala nang time ang commmittee to conduct the hearings,” Gatchalian added. (It is difficult during an impeachment trial because senator-judges need to be present. But with regular plenary, we can be flexible so the committee on finance can catch up on its schedule. Half of our day is currently taken up by the impeachment, leaving the committee no time to hold budget hearings.) – Rappler.com How does this make you feel? Loading