Senate Pres. Tito Sotto Speaks on Live Streaming of Budget Deliberations
TITO SOTTO – The Senate President claimed that it is sure that the Philippines will have a “cleaner budget” in 2026.
The National Expenditure Program or NEP for 2026 was submitted by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to the House of Representatives. Then, the lower chamber is under the leadership of then-House Speaker Martin Romualdez.
The NEP for 2026 is asking for a P6.79-trillion national budget. However, a solon claimed that there were allegedly items in the said proposal that seeks budget appropriations for projects that were already marked completed. Amid the claim, Pres. Bongbong Marcos stressed that the 2026 national budget should be cleaned out properly. The Chief Executive also wants the budget deliberations available for viewing to the public.
Prior to the transfer of the NEP to the House, Malacañang previously called on the Congress not abuse the “power of the purse”. The statement of the Palace came after then-Senate Pres. Chiz Escudero emphasized that the “power of the purse” still belongs to the Congress.
However, amid the flood control mess in the Philippines, both the Senate and the House of Representatives had a change in their leaderships. Sen. Chiz Escudero was ousted and replaced with Senate Pres. Tito Sotto. Escudero’s name was dragged in the issue due to the P30-million campaign donation from a contractor flagged by Pres. Bongbong Marcos.
In the House of Representatives, Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez has just resigned from being the House Speaker. He was accused of allegedly receiving kickbacks from the flood control projects by controversial contractors Pacifico and Sarah Discaya.
Despite the change in leadership in the Senate and the House of Representatives, during an interview based on a post of GMA News, Senate Pres. Tito Sotto is hopeful that they will be able to pass the 2026 national budget before the year ends. He is confident that the change of leadership in both chambers will not delay the passage of the national fund for next year.
Furthermore, during the interview, Senate Pres. Tito Sotto also assured that there will be a cleaner budget for 2026. According to him, they will make sure of it as there will be livestreaming.
“Ay sigurado. We will make sure this time because there will be livestreaming not only in the deliberations, not only in the hearings but also on the floor and the bicameral Congress committee,” Sotto said.
According to Sotto, he and House Speaker Bojie Dy will make sure that the Filipinos will know where the government funds will go. During the interview, he confirmed that he and the newly-elected House Speaker have already talked over the phone. He also affirmed that Dy is friends with many senators.
“Whatever form of bicameral conference will be done… Speaker Bojie and I will make sure that there is a livestreaming so that the people and the public will know where the money goes,”
Amid the recent turn of events, Senate Pres. Tito Sotto admitted that he was not surprised by the resignation of Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez as House speaker.