Senate majority united in purging budget
The Manila Times · 11/3/2026, 12:15:00 AM Philippine time
Excerpt from The Manila Times. Read the original report below for the complete story.THE Senate majority bloc is united in stripping the proposed P7.2 trillion 2027 national budget of questionable and corruption-prone allocations, including projects inserted by lawmakers without proper vetting, Sen. Panfilo Lacson said.In a social media post, Lacson said the majority was all for weeding out unwarranted allocations and ensuring transparency at every stage of the budget-making process.“The majority of senators are rallying behind Senate Finance Committee Chairman JV Ejercito’s efforts to cleanse the 2027 budget of unwarranted, whimsical, and corruption-prone items,” Lacson said.Over the weekend, Ejercito secured a commitment from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to strike out infrastructure projects without complete supporting documents from the House-approved budget bill before plenary debates, unless the agency submits the required papers by Nov. 3.Budget advocacy groups had flagged the lack of supporting documents in the House version of the proposed spending measure.A Senate review found that the number of DPWH projects had increased from 11,420 in the National Expenditure…