What It Means
- JV Ejercito says the House changes behind the 2027 budget realignment total about ₱206 billion, and the Senate will not accept the bill as is.
- Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian puts the amount moved inside the budget at ₱199 billion, and the reporting so far does not reconcile the two figures.
- The largest cut is ₱130 billion from foreign-assisted projects, including the Metro Manila Subway and the North-South Commuter Railway.
- Senator Panfilo Lacson and JV Ejercito both say unfunded foreign loan commitments carry costs, and JV Ejercito says delay raises them through commitment fees.
- Immunization, health promotion and the calamity fund lost money while medical assistance gained, and those lines now sit inside the Senate review.
Senators have started reading the House’s 2027 budget realignment line by line, and the numbers coming from the Senate’s own leaders do not match. JV Ejercito, chairperson of the Senate Finance Committee, estimates that about ₱206 billion in the ₱7.2 trillion House-approved bill was altered from the executive’s original spending plan. Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian counts ₱199 billion. Both say the Senate will examine the changes before it accepts them.
JV Ejercito says the Senate will not take the 2027 budget realignment as is
JV Ejercito set the tone at a Wednesday briefing. Of the House version he said, “So ito yung budget na hindi naman natin tatanggapin as is,” meaning the Senate will not accept it unchanged. He described “noticeable slashing of funds for major programs, especially foreign-assisted programs,” and called the process “a balancing act.”
He also set conditions for how the Senate will handle the 2027 budget realignment. It will demand approval from Regional Development Councils, bar lump sum flood control allocations and prioritize only uncompleted projects along major river basins and in the top 10 flood-prone areas. Limited fiscal space remains for Senate amendments of its own, he said, and he targets signing by the second week of December.
The senators count the 2027 budget realignment differently
JV Ejercito’s ₱206 billion is his estimate of the 2027 budget realignment, meaning funds altered from the executive’s plan. Gatchalian said in a radio interview that almost ₱200 billion moved inside the budget, ₱199 billion to be exact. Both describe money shifted within the ₱7.2 trillion total, not new spending on top of it. The House has a third number. Its budget amendments subcommittee reported ₱116.32 billion in recommended amendments earlier this month. The reporting so far does not reconcile the three figures.
JV Ejercito’s briefing itemized the changes, and the figures below are as reported.
| Item | Change |
|---|---|
| Foreign-assisted projects | Cut of ₱130 billion |
| Department of Transportation | Cut of ₱40.4 billion |
| Metro Manila Subway | Cut of ₱19.7 billion |
| North-South Commuter Railway | Cut of ₱15 billion |
| Calamity fund | Cut of ₱9.5 billion |
| Immunization | Cut of about ₱4 billion |
| Health promotion | Cut of about ₱2 billion |
| Other flood mitigation structures | Increase of ₱8.04 billion |
| Medical assistance for indigent patients | Raised to about ₱23.9 billion |
| Assistance to farmers and fisherfolk | New item of ₱10 billion |
Lacson and JV Ejercito say stalled foreign-assisted projects cost money
The biggest cut in the 2027 budget realignment is ₱130 billion from foreign-assisted projects. Senator Panfilo Lacson, speaking on radio, listed changes to those projects among his red flags and said the Senate cannot unilaterally decide not to fund a project the government has already committed to. He named the Lakeshore (Laguna) Road Network, a multiyear project involving the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), as one at risk, and warned of heavy financial costs and possible commitment fees if such projects go unfunded.
JV Ejercito made the same point from the lender side. Japan, JICA and the Asian Development Bank trusted the country with loans for infrastructure, he said, and delay makes it costlier: “lalo po mas magiging mahal sa atin,” because commitment fees are paid. Gatchalian said where part of the money in the 2027 budget realignment went. Cuts to projects such as the Metro Manila subway and the railways were realigned to medical assistance and the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation program, he said, and the Senate will balance the two.
Lacson points to restoration and JV Ejercito points to limits
On the 2027 budget realignment, Lacson says the Senate may restore “hundreds of billions” in House cuts and realignments, though he gave no exact figure. He also called changes to congressional district allocations questionable. JV Ejercito frames the review of the 2027 budget realignment as constrained, with limited room for new Senate additions and a ban on items that lack sufficient detail, particularly lump sums.
Flood control is where both set conditions. JV Ejercito would let through only the priority projects above, and Lacson lists the House’s added flood control money among his red flags. The line carries history, including the plunder charges tied to the flood control scandal, and it arrives in the budget cycle that follows the 2026 national budget.
House leaders describe part of the 2027 budget realignment as El Niño preparation
House Appropriations Chairperson Mikaela Suansing said in early October that the House committed to making the 2027 national budget “El Niño-ready.” The House budget subcommittee recommended an added ₱10 billion for assistance to farmers and fisherfolk as part of that. JV Ejercito reads that part of the 2027 budget realignment differently. He said he is worried about the ₱9.5 billion calamity fund cut, citing a Super El Niño that he said is expected from the end of the year into early 2027. The Senate will look into whether part of the calamity fund was moved to the new ₱10 billion item.
The loans behind the projects cut in the 2027 budget realignment do not shrink with the appropriations. Lacson says the government has already committed, and JV Ejercito says the longer the delay, the higher the cost through commitment fees. The borrower in every case is the national government, and the Senate calendar now sets how long that meter runs.
More developments that reshape the operating environment in National Signal section of Hemos PH.
