FY 2027 General Appropriations Bill Amendments and Second Reading

Session resumed.

Majority Leader.

Madam Speaker, under the calendar of unfinished business,

I move to resume consideration of House Bill No. 10858

as contained in Committee Report No. 638

and for this purpose, direct the Secretary General to read the title of the said measure.

An objection?

Hearing none, the Secretary General is hereby directed to read the title of House Bill No. 10858.

House Bill 10858, an act appropriating funds for the operation of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines

from January 1 to December 31, 2027.

Majority Leader.

Madam Speaker, the parliamentary status of House Bill No. 10858

is that the period of its implementation

by sponsorship and debate has been closed.

I now move to open the period of amendments.

Is there an objection?

Hearing none, the motion is approved.

The period of amendments is now open.

Majority Leader.

Madam Speaker, I move to recognize the sponsor,

Representative Micaela Angela B. Sonsing,

to consider amendments to the bill, if any.

The Honorable Sonsing, Chairperson of the Committee,

Committee of Appropriations, is hereby recognized.

Thank you very much, Madam Speaker.

I am now ready to go forward with the consideration of individual amendments.

Madam Speaker, same as last time,

I would like to request for the indulgence of the body for me to sit down.

I am now 38 weeks pregnant, but still working for the budget.

So, I would like to request the kind indulgence of our distinguished colleagues.

Majority Leader.

Point of order.

Point of order, Madam Speaker.

And may we know the point of order of the Honorable Tino.

Madam Speaker, I cite Rule 9, Committees,

particularly Section 28D on Appropriations,

which states,

The BARC, which is the Budget Amendments and Review Subcommittee,

the BARC shall be tasked to produce a detailed report,

that includes any and all realignments and modifications

from any agency, including increases and decreases,

with sufficient details, including the proponent legislator.

The BARC shall similarly publish reports in the House website

on budgetary allocations per government agency

in each legislative district,

which shall subsequently be distributed,

to all members of the House.

So, Madam Speaker,

we are already in the period of amendments,

and yet, there is still no, as far as I know,

there is no compliance with the requirements of the rule

that the BARC must produce a detailed report

of proposed amendments,

it being subcommittee on budget amendments,

and that such detailed report be furnished to all members,

and that it be published on the website of the House.

So, Madam Speaker,

narinig po natin, kahit po dun sa live stream mismo ng BARC,

sinabi po ng Chair, our esteemed Chair of the Committee on Appropriations,

na hindi na raw po magpuproduce ng separate

o maglalabas ng separate report ang BARC.

At yung amended text na lamang ng GAB ang ipipresent dito.

At sa totoo lang, kahit po sa media,

ay walang summary man lang na pinroduce.

Kinailangan pa po na kami, individual,

through individual effort,

ang maghanap kung ano ba talaga yung mga amendments,

and we found that a total of 116.32 billion

in increases were proposed by the BARC.

Pinakamalaki dito ay increase sa ma-ifip ng DOH,

amounting to 28 billion,

DSW, DIX, 26 billion,

merong dole tupad na 5.11 billion,

yung controversial na LGSF,

dinagdagan ng 4.09 billion yung DPWH,

dinagdagan ng 11.49 billion.

Ngunit, hindi naman sinabi, on the other hand,

saan binawas o saan nanggaling yung mga dagdag na ito.

So, pangalawa, sa mga increases po,

just to align.

Opo.

Your point of order is based on

Yes.

Section 27,

Section 28,

D on the Appropriations Committee.

Yes, that is correct, Madam Speaker.

And, yung isa pang punto po,

yung mga increases na pinropose po sa BARC,

ay mga lump sum increases lang po,

hindi din italye kung saan mapupunta.

For example, in the case of the DPWH increase of 11.49 billion.

With the indulgence of the Honorable Tinio, for proper response, may we...

Session is suspended for a few minutes.

Session resumed. Majority Leader.

Madam Speaker, in response to the point of order of the good gentleman from ACT Teachers Party List,

Allow me to state the following.

The BARC proceedings were live-streamed in the official online platform of the House,

and that the amendments as approved by the BARC were incorporated to the substitute text of House Bill No. 10858

under Committee Report 638 as submitted to the plenary to be considered during the period

of amendments.

This substitute bill was furnished to all the members via their registered email addresses

and was also posted in the House website.

As such, the majority submits that the point of order is not well taken.

Madam Speaker,

His Honorable Tino,

Does the Speaker have a position on the manifestation of the majority, Madam Speaker?

Well, that was the position of the majority.

Your point of order is not well taken based on the reasons aforementioned.

Well, Madam Speaker, I note that position, it is not well taken.

However, I assert that the rules are very clear.

Napakalinaw po sa rules na kailangan may report ang BARC, hiwalay na report ito.

Hindi pwedeng sabihin yung revised version ng House General Appropriations Bill, ay yun ang report na yun.

Sinasabi dito, dapat specified ang bawat amendment, kung ano yung dinagdag at ano yung dinagdagan, ano yung binawasan para mabuo ang amendment.

Sabi rin dito, bawat isang proponent dapat nakapag-report.

And finally, dapat i-publish at dapat bawat membro ay may kopya.

So, nananadili po tayo sa posisyon na yun ang nakasaad at yun ang dapat sundin.

At kung walang tinatago ang Kongreso, ay dapat ipakita sa lahat kung ano yung mga amendments.

So, hanggang dun po, Madam Speaker.

Thank you very much, Hon. Tino.

The Honorable Eli of Party-list Kamanggagawa is hereby recognized.

Yes, Madam Speaker.

Ilang obserbasyon lang po hinggil po sa proseso.

Nabanggit na po ng kagalang-galang na kinatawa ng Act Teacher's Partylist na malino po sa ating rules,

Rule 9, Section 28D, na kinakailangan po ng BARC na mag-provide ng detalyadong report

in any and all realignments and modifications from any agency including increases,

and decreases with sufficient details, including the proponent legislator,

and that the BARC shall similarly publish reports in the House website on budgetary allocations

per government agency in each legislative district, which shall subsequently be distributed to all members of the House.

This representation takes note of the answer of the majority, Madam Speaker, na ni-livestream naman daw po,

pero ang paninindigan po ng Minorya, ang livestream po ay hindi report.

Hiwalay po ang BARC report.

Last point, Madam Speaker, binabanggit po na naipadala ang substitute bill sa mga miyembro ng bulwagang ito.

This representation would like to put on record.

1.57 a.m., pinadala ang substitute bill, ang substitute text ng House Bill No. 10858.

Almost 4,000 pages po ang kailangang aralin.

ng mga mambabatas upang matiyak po na tunay na sinasalamin nito kung ano ang mga lumabas na usapan dito sa bulwagang ito.

So gusto po namin ibigyang linaw at idiin, Madam Speaker, na hindi po sapat ang oras na ibinigay.

1.57 a.m., alas dos ng madaling araw po, Madam Speaker.

So yun lang po ang obserbasyon ng kinatawang ito at ng aming pagdiin na dapat po ay ilabas ang BARC report.

Maraming salamat po, Madam Speaker.

The manifestation of the Hon. Eli San Fernando is noted, Majority Leader.

Madam Speaker.

The Hon. Toby Tiangco is recognized.

Madam Speaker, I would like to make a manifestation regarding these two.

Noon pa lang, September 24, during the interpellation of the budget of the DPWH, I already read this exact text, no?

Yung kung ano po yung binasa ni Congressman Tino.

Ay binasa ko rin noong araw na yun, no?

Na talagang nakasaad po yun sa rules natin, no?

So I just hope that since that was before the BARC, sana naman po ay sinunod natin yung rules natin.

Kasi po ang pinakamahalaga dito is meron tayong mga ahensyang dinagdagan ng pondo, no?

Pero dahil ang ating budget ay zero sum, dapat din natin sanang malaman kung saan nang galing yung pondong idinagdag.

Kasi kung wala pong binawasan,

eh wala pong madadagdagan.

But as it is, yun nga po, kahit ako kanina sinubukan kong i-chat GPT,

hindi ko naman po pwedeng assume na 100% tama yung binigay ng chat GPT, di ba?

Ngayon, yung staff ko hanggang ngayon, hindi pa rin tapos, no?

So, sana po, ginawa natin ito dahil ito po ay napakahalaga, no?

Yun lang po, Madam Speaker.

Thank you very much, Honorable Toby Tiangco.

The manifestation is well noted.

Majority Leader.

Madam Speaker, may I be recognized?

The Honorable Egay Erice is recognized.

Yes, I don't want to belabor the points of our colleagues.

Ang hinihiling ko na lang po, sana po before Monday, kung pwede mabigyan kami ng exact copy ng pagbabago sa ating GAB, especially on the special provision.

Thank you.

The manifestation of the Honorable Erice is noted.

Majority Leader.

Madam Speaker.

Madam Speaker, we are still in the period of amendment.

Madam Speaker.

May we know the pleasure of the Honorable Rene Co.

Another manifestation, Madam Speaker.

The Honorable Rene Co has three minutes.

Madam Speaker, I join the members of the minority in the pointing out that there is a rule that ought to be followed in the transparency,

not only to the fellow members of the House, but to the people.

On the movements in the House of Representatives for the budget.

So, sana nga po, sa pinakakagyat ay maipakita yung, hindi lang yung pagdagdag, pero kung saan po nabawasan yung gustong makita na amendments to the budget.

The people deserve the information, not only is it as a right, but it is also our responsibility.

Thank you, Madam Speaker.

The manifestation of the Honorable Rene Co is noted.

The Honorable Sarah Jane Elago is recognized for a brief manifestation.

Maraming salamat, Madam Speaker.

Nais lang din pong magbigay ng suporta ng kinatawan ng kababaihan mula sa Gabriela Women's Party

ng panawagan ng ating mga kasamahan para sa buong ulat, buong report na may detalye,

kung saan ba nadagdagan ng mga programa, saan ba nabawasan.

Gayun din, kung meron bang mga pagbabago pagdating sa mga special provisions,

the principles na nakasaad sa ating General Appropriations Bill.

Mahalaga ito, lalong-lalo na ngayon sa panahon na lubos na nananawagan ng ating mga kababayan para sa buong transparency.

At mahirap po matiyak ang buong-buo na transparency at accountability kung wala ho tayong mapag-aaralan at mabubusisi na detalyadong report.

Maraming salamat, Madam Speaker.

The manifestation of the Honorable Elago is duly noted.

The Parliamentary Status of House Bill No. 10858.

is that we are now in the period of amendments.

The Honorable Suansing has been recognized as sponsor of such.

Majority Leader.

Madam Speaker, there being no committee amendments and pursuant to Section 106 of our rules,

I move to proceed with the amendments by substitution.

Is there an objection?

Hearing none, the motion is approved.

The entire bill is...

Majority Leader.

Madam Speaker, earlier we have distributed to the members copies of the Substitute Bill to the House Bill No. 10858.

Madam Speaker, I move to amend by substitution the entire bill as contained in Committee Report No. 638.

With the contents of the substitute bill earlier distributed to all the members, I so move, Madam Speaker.

Is there an objection? Hearing none, the motion is approved.

I object, Madam Speaker.

There is an objection.

There is an objection to the motion to amend by substitution the entire bill.

Madam Speaker, I object and I invoke the five-minute rule to explain my objection.

Prior to the explanation of your vote, may we request...

Not my vote, my objection, Madam Speaker.

Okay, you have five minutes, Honorable Tino. Please proceed.

Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Well, I object to the amendment by substitution.

First of all, because of the point we raised earlier,

it is not transparent to give the report of BARC that details what are the amendments that were made.

And our colleagues said earlier that it is not enough to say that it is in the live stream.

Having said that, we also looked at the amendments in the live stream.

We looked at them one by one and it shows that a total of P116 billion was saved here, P116.32 billion.

At ang pinakamalaking mga amendments ay para sa dagdag sa MAIFIP, that's over 28 billion.

Sa DSWD, 26 billion, yan yung AICS.

Sa Department of, sa DOLE, 5.11 billion para sa Tupad.

Sa LGSF, binagdagan pa ng 4.09 billion.

Sa TESDA, 1.44 billion pangunahin sa mga scholarships.

So ito yung mga ayuda programs ng iba't ibang mga ahensyang ito,

which among others requires or involves the discretion of legislators

in

allocating this ayuda.

So kaya may pagtutulpo tayo ron.

Tapos, may mga inamend din po, for example, sa DPWH budget,

dinagdagan ng 11.49 billion pesos.

So nadagdagan yung total, pero actually internally,

internally ay 98.8 billion pesos po ang total na binago.

including 6,262

individual projects na wala sa NEP,

pero nandito na sa amended House version na pinapapasa sa atin.

Unfortunately, dahil nga hindi na-present at nabigyan tayo ng report,

hindi alam ng publiko at ng nakararaming mga miyembro ang mga amendments na ito.

So, for all of these reasons, Madam Chair,

samantala, inod din natin na yung ilang mga demands na nire-raise,

katulad nung substantial increase in personnel economic relief allowance,

yung pagtiyak na mapopondohan ang free higher education deficiency

ng mga state universities and colleges for 2026 and 2027,

yung production subsidy para sa mga magsasaka at mangingisda,

yung pagdagdag sa budget ng edukasyon sa mga public hospitals at iba pa,

lalo pa ngayon na napakatindi ng inflation, 7.2% po ang latest inflation figures.

Sa tingin po natin, ay hindi matutugunan ng amendments,

via substitution, ang mga pangangailangan ito ng sambayan ng Pilipino,

nananatiling pangunahin sa P116B, almost P100B,

ay matatawag na pork type amendments, both para sa ayuda at para sa infrastructure,

kaya tinututulan po natin ito, Madam Speaker.

The Parliamentary Status is as follows.

A motion was put forward by the Majority Leader earlier to amend by substitution

House Bill No. 10858, duly objected by the Honorable Tinio.

With this, we have to go on a vote.

An aye vote means you sustain the motion of the Majority Leader

to amend by substitution House Bill No. 10858.

A nay vote means you sustain the objection of the Honorable Tinio.

Those in favor of the motion of the Majority Leader, say aye.

Aye.

Those who are not in favor, say nay.

Nay.

The ayes have it. House Bill No. 10858 is amended by substitution of the entire bill.

Majority Leader.

Madam Speaker, I move to proceed with the individual amendments.

An objection?

Hearing none, the period of individual amendments is now open.

Majority Leader.

Madam Speaker, I move to recognize Representative Sergio C. Dagooc of APEC Partylist

to propose individual amendments.

The Honorable Serge Dagooc of Partylist APEC is hereby recognized to introduce individual amendments.

Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Madam Speaker, thank you, Majority Leader.

Before I proceed with my proposed individual amendment,

I would like to thank the Committee on Appropriations Chair

for considering in the HGAP one of my proposed amendments

on the transfer of the budget of the DPWH

for full relocation

through the National

Electrification Administration

for its SPD

settlement.

So that instead of two, I only have one left proposed individual amendment.

So, Madam Speaker, Distinguished Sponsor,

this representation would like to respectfully address,

proposed that on

page

517 of

volume 1-B of

House Bill

10858

I moved to insert a new

special provision which

read as follows

Expanded Sitio Electrification

Activities

The National Electrification

Administration through

the Electric Cooperatives

is authorized to

utilize funds appropriated

under the National Rural

Electrification Program for

the implementation of Sitio Electrification

Activities including

the rehabilitation, upgrading

and installation or

replacement of distribution facilities

and equipment as may be necessary

to reduce systems

losses and improve

the reliability and efficiency of

Electric Cooperatives distribution

system provided

that the implementation of this

provision shall be subject

to the applicable budgeting

procurement, accounting

and auditing laws,

rules and regulations.

Does the sponsor accept

the amendment?

Madam Speaker, given that

the proposed amendment of our

distinguished colleague is consistent

with RA number

10531 which designates the

Electric Cooperatives as the

implementing arm of the National Electrification

Administration, the committee accepts the proposed amendment.

What does the house say?

Madam Speaker, I move to approve the proposed amendment.

There is a motion to approve the proposed amendment.

Any objection? Hearing none.

Said motion is approved.

The proposed amendment is carried.

Thank you Madam Speaker. Thank you

Distinguished Sponsor.

Majority Leader?

Madam Speaker,

I move to recognize

Representative Toby Tiangco

of the Lone District of Navotas

to propose individual

amendments.

The Honorable Tiangco is

recognized.

Madam Speaker, dear

Sponsor,

I have two provisions and these

provisions seek to strengthen

the credibility of the house as an institution

by demonstrating that

accountability applies equally

to everyone entrusted with public

funds. If we demand transparency

from the executive, we must be

prepared to demonstrate

transparency ourselves.

So the number one

requested

amendment is

mandatory publication of

the house budget utilization

and member specific

expenditures under

the special provisions of the House of

Representatives. The House of

Representatives shall publish on

its official website

a quarterly report on the

utilization of its budget,

showing the amounts appropriated,

obligated, disbursed,

and the corresponding

balances with such

appropriation breakdown

as may be necessary to provide

the public with a clear and

complete accounting of the utilization

of the funds of the house.

The House of Representatives shall likewise

publish an itemized

annual report of all amounts

paid to, allocated for,

or expenditures incurred

for or

attributable to each member of the

House of Representatives,

including but not limited to basic

salary, chairmanship

allocations, contractual

consultants, consultative

and other local travel,

foreign travel including airfare,

hotel accommodations,

travel allowance and

per diem, communication

expenses, representation expenses,

public affairs funds,

central office staff,

equipment, furniture and fixtures,

and other MOOE.

The foregoing information

shall be made readily accessible

to the public through the official website

of the House of Representatives.

A notice informing the public

of the availability of such reports

shall likewise be published in a

newspaper of general circulation

subject to applicable laws,

rules, and regulations.

Just to explain,

what we are doing

the last publication I saw

is 2020.

So I don't know why we stopped doing this.

That's why I propose

that we amend it

and add it in the special provisions

of the House of Representatives.

Now if the

honorable sponsor wants to read it

because it's quite long, I could approach her

and show her the amendment.

Madam Speaker.

Session suspended.

Session resumed.

Majority Leader. If the Honorable Tiangco may proceed with his proposed amendment.

Madam Speaker, I would just like to hear the reply of the Honorable Sponsor.

What does the Sponsor say?

Madam Speaker, if we may respectfully request the indulgence of the Honorable Tiangco, if we may move to the second proposed amendment, given that we are currently considering the first amendment

and if possible for us to revert back later with regard to the first proposed amendment and then we can move to the second. Is Honorable Tiangco amenable?

Yes, Madam Speaker, I am amenable.

So please proceed to your next proposed individual amendment.

Okay, the second and last amendment is the mandatory publication of DPWH projects by congressional legislative districts. Madam Speaker, Dear Sponsor, this is also in connection with the rule on the Committee on Appropriations and the [unclear]. Upon approval of the General Appropriations Act,

the House of Representatives shall cause the publication on its official website of an itemized list of all Department of Public Works and Highways projects located within each congressional district, indicating at a minimum the project description, location, implementing office or agency, and the amount appropriated. Projects requested,

proposed, or introduced by party-list representatives and located within a congressional legislative district shall likewise be separately identified, including the name of the party-list representative concerned, subject to all applicable laws, rules, and regulations. Madam Speaker, Dear Sponsor.

What does the Sponsor say?

Madam Speaker, if again requesting for the kind indulgence of the Honorable Tiangco, so we can revert back and respond to the two proposed amendments together,

may we respectfully request your indulgence that we respond to both proposed amendments together later?

Yes, Madam Speaker, I am amenable to that, Madam Speaker.

Yeah, would you have another?

No, that's all, Madam Speaker. So I'll just wait for the reply of the Honorable Sponsor after the other amendments are taken.

Thank you very much, Honorable Tiangco. Majority Leader.

Madam Speaker, I move to recognize

Representative Antonio Tinio of ACT Teachers Party-list to propose individual amendments.

The Honorable Tinio is recognized to propose individual amendments.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. My proposal is with regard to General Provision Section 63 of the general provisions. This is about Personnel Economic

Relief Allowance, ito po yung PERA. So throughout the budget deliberations ay ni-raise po natin na dapat nang dagdagan ang PERA at nagsabi at malinaw na nag-commit ang [unclear] na sa Miscellaneous Personnel Benefits Fund lump sum ay meron pong 11.78 billion specifically para sa pagdagdag ng PERA, which is good for 500 pesos per month

for the roughly 2 million government employees. However, so napakaganda, well, mixed po 'yan. Magandang balita na may increase pero yung increase na 500 ay kapos po, especially now with 7.2% inflation. However, in General Provision Section 63, Personnel Economic Relief Allowance:

In order to supplement the salaries of government personnel covered by RA No. 6758 as amended,

personnel economic relief allowance pera in the amount of 2,000 pesos per month.

Yun pa rin po ang nakalagay, 2,000 pesos per month.

So after discussions with the Chair of Committee on Appropriations,

who is, I know, very supportive of this increase,

I propose, well, ang gusto ko po sanang i-propose ay the 2,000 pesos should become 5,000 pesos.

Pero for now, dahil binubuno at nilalaban pa po yung source of funding,

we propose the wording of, the insertion of the phrase, at least.

So, now the provision will read,

personal economic relief allowance in the amount of at least 2,000 pesos per month.

Yun po yung proposal natin sa ngayon,

with the understanding na this is meant to give the DBM and Malacanang flexibility

in

raising the amount beyond what is currently stated as 2,000 pesos per month.

I so move, Madam Speaker.

What does the sponsor say?

Madam Speaker, as committed by Secretary Kim De Leon during the deliberations on the general principles

as well as the lump sum funds during the plenary deliberations,

There is an amount, as stated by our distinguished colleague, 11.794 billion pesos out of the 58 billion pesos MPBF that is currently earmarked or targeted for an increase in allowances for government employees.

The initial discussion is that this may be in the form of a 500 peso increase under PERA. However, upon consulting with the Department of Budget and Management, we were told that there were several options currently being considered as to what shape or form this 11.794 billion will be disbursed for additional allowances for government employees.

So, while we are still waiting for the decision of the Executive as to what shape and form this additional allowance will take, I agree with the amendment being proposed by our distinguished colleague in the general provision pertaining to the PERA.

Because in its current form, that general provision limits the amount.

It tags it to be...

It tags it to be 2,000 pesos. So that doesn't give us any flexibility once the Executive does decide on the shape or form of this additional allowance.

And for that reason, Madam Speaker, the Committee accepts the proposed amendment of our distinguished colleague.

What does the House say?

Madam Speaker, I move to approve the proposed amendment.

Is there an objection? The Chair hears none. The proposed amendment is hereby accepted.

Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Majority Leader.

Madam Speaker, I move to recognize Representative Rene Co. of Kabataan Partylist to propose individual amendments.

The Honorable Rene Co. of Partylist Kabataan is hereby recognized to propose for her proposed individual amendments.

Maraming salamat, Madam Speaker.

Madam Speaker, I rise today with the following amendments backed by our State University...

Universities and Colleges, Administrators and Presidents, 94 of which, out of the 113, signed a unity statement to add to the budget for education in the 2027 General Appropriations Bill.

And the following, Madam Speaker, distinguished sponsor, will be the following amendments.

Firstly, I propose to restore the budget cuts affecting...

49 State Universities and Colleges in the amount of 7,678,582,000 Pesos,

the detailed breakdown of which has been submitted to the Committee on Appropriations prior to the deliberations of the Budget Amendments and Review Subcommittee.

Furthermore, I also propose the augmentation of the budget for SUCs in accordance with...

a consolidated wish list from the Philippine Association of State Universities and Colleges amounting to additional funding of 11,508,124,824 Pesos in capital outlay expenditure for priority projects, as exhaustively discussed in the pre-plenary briefing with State Universities and Colleges all over the Philippines.

And they share that...

that 25 of them do not have any capital outlay infrastructure allocations for the coming fiscal year.

Madam Speaker, that will be my first proposed amendment. Madam Speaker, good sponsor.

What does the sponsor say?

Madam Speaker, last year, the House approved and included in the HGAB a very important special provision as well as very important funding...

for the payment of the

deficiency

to SUCs,

amounting to 12 billion Pesos,

7.5 billion of which will come from the HDF

and 4.5 billion of which we included in the HGABA.

I will inform you that I am happy to report, Madam Speaker,

that two weeks ago,

we conducted a ceremonial turnover

along with the Commission of Higher Education,

with Pa-Suk and the Presidents of Mainland folders of State Universities and Colleges

I believe roughly 99 out of the 113 state universities were all given their checks for the payment of deficiency to SUC.

So just that was two weeks ago, Madam Speaker.

And a lot of the state university presidents were saying that they would use that additional funding

to be able to augment whichever funds they need to fund infrastructure projects and operating expenses.

So, Madam Speaker, we were also told that out of the 12 billion that we provided for last year,

roughly 2.99 billion pesos or 3 billion pesos almost would be unutilized,

which means that not the whole 12 billion pesos which we provided for is forecasted to not be utilized this year.

Therefore, Madam Speaker, if I may respond,

our distinguished colleague, that rather than putting in additional funding for these specific state universities and colleges,

we instead put in a special provision under the Commission on Higher Education,

which essentially mandates them to disburse the remaining 2.995 billion pesos that remains unutilized

from the amount that we provided for last year.

Which is 12 billion pesos for payment of any remaining deficiencies to the state universities and colleges

that may have been accrued during the school year 2025 and school year 2025 to 2026.

So, our distinguished colleague mentioned an amount, an amount roughly totaling 700 million pesos.

But this one, Madam Speaker, the counterproposal is to,

to allocate back the 2.995 billion pesos towards addressing any deficiencies

that state universities and colleges may have with regard to the implementation of the free higher education.

And with that, Madam Speaker, our distinguished colleague knows how much I support the advocacy in terms of higher education.

In fact, Madam Speaker, aside from the special provision that we put forth,

but that we put into the HGAAB,

we also put in 2.1 billion pesos as an additional funding for tertiary education subsidy.

which hopefully would help address the shortfall in the funding under CHED for providing scholarships to college students in need.

To be precise, Madam Speaker, we put in the 2.1 billion pesos to be able to cater to four-piece beneficiaries that have already enrolled

but are not accounted for in the tertiary education subsidy fund that is there in the NEP.

On top of that, Madam Speaker, we also added 1.77 billion pesos for the Tulong-Dunong program, which currently has zero funding in the NEP.

So, Madam Speaker, in total, in the House General Appropriations Bill, we put in 2.95 billion pesos for payment of deficiency to SUCs,

2.1 billion pesos for tertiary education subsidies,

and 1.77 billion pesos for the Tulong-Dunong program.

And with that, Madam Speaker, given that we have put in a lot of additional funding to cater to the needs of our higher education institutions and students,

the committee respectfully rejects the proposed amendment.

What does the House say?

Madam Speaker, I move to approve the proposed amendment.

The session is suspended.

Session resumed.

Madam Speaker, I withdraw that motion.

On the part of the House, we join the proponent to disapprove and reject the proposed amendment.

The proposed amendment is hereby rejected.

Madam Speaker, I have two more amendments that we'd like to propose on the floor.

Proceed.

Thank you, Madam Speaker, good sponsor.

My next amendment would be in line, actually, to the one already mentioned by our distinguished sponsor.

Earlier, she mentioned that there is amendments to the special...

special provision catering to the demand of state universities and colleges

of the still existing free higher education deficiencies

found in academic years 2024 to 2025, 2025 and 2026.

And as reported in the pre-plenary briefings, including as well the expected deficiencies in academic year 2026,

to 2027, or even to 2027 to 2028.

And Madam Speaker, good sponsor, my next amendment would be in page 349 of volume 1B

of the General Appropriations Bill, the special provision number 2

on the use of Higher Education Development Fund for the payment of funding deficiencies

for the free higher education for state universities and colleges.

In the last sentence, in line 24, we propose that the word may, in the last sentence,

be replaced with the word shall, to read that the HEDF shall also be used

to cover the current year's FHE deficiencies.

We raise this, Madam Speaker, distinguished sponsor, because it is the report of state universities

and colleges.

It is on the ground that the use of the word may has added difficulty to some SUCs

to accessing the funding already existing to ensure that whatever is already their deficiency

can be provided already, even if they have already submitted the necessary documentation.

So, Madam Chair, a simple amendment of the word may,

to shall, in line 24, page 349 of volume 1B of the GAB,

under the special provision number 2, is the second amendment.

And then my last amendment, Madam Speaker, good sponsor,

we'd just like an update on the requested funding from the Legal Education Board,

particularly, as mentioned in the BARC proceedings,

to fund the clinical legal education.

So, Madam Speaker, may I request, just for the clarity of the proceedings,

may we request for these two amendments to be put into motion?

May we request the Honorable Court to individually propose the amendment?

Will do, Madam Speaker, good sponsor.

In that sense, I retract my third amendment for now,

and would like to again propose on the floor the amendment on the free higher education deficiency special provision number 2,

found in line 24.

Page 349, to replace the word may, to shall,

so that it can read that the HEDF shall also be used to cover the current year's FHE deficiencies.

Madam Speaker, good sponsor.

What does the sponsor say?

Madam Speaker, as much as I would like to say yes to the proposed amendment of our distinguished colleague,

where we are right now is that in the special provision,

we essentially said that the remaining,

the remaining 2.995 billion pesos out of the 12 billion pesos

can be allocated to cover any other deficiencies that may have arose from school year 2025 to 2026.

However, given that at this point in time,

we still do not have an exact number provided by CHED or PASOK with regard to the total amount of SUCs,

sorry,

deficiency of FHE to SUCs for fiscal year 2025-2026,

it may be a little bit,

we're a little bit cautious to put shall,

because the amount may exceed the 2.995 billion pesos that we've provided for in the special provision.

And for that reason, Madam Speaker,

as much as I would like to,

accept the proposed amendment,

the committee respectfully rejects the proposed amendment.

What does the House say?

Madam Speaker, I move to reject and disapprove the proposed amendment.

There's a motion to reject the proposed amendment.

Any comment from the Honorable Kho?

Madam Speaker, given that the distinguished sponsor has provided a rationale

as to the limitation of the proposed amendment,

of the use of the word

shall, we would like to

further coordinate with the

sponsor as to

how to avoid the

current scenario being reported

by our SUCs on the ground

which is that the

wording of the word may

is used so that

they are disallowed the

access to the funding of the

deficiencies that should already

be available to them. Anyway,

this representative

will continue to coordinate with the

sponsor to ensure that that would no longer happen.

With that, let me,

the presiding officer, make a ruling.

The proposed individual

amendment is lost

but the manifestation of the Honorable

Co is duly noted.

May we request Honorable Co to proceed to the

third proposed individual amendment.

Madam Speaker, my final amendment

would come in

um

on line

50, page

354 of

volume 1B

of House Bill 10-858

to add to the

budget of the Legal Education

Board in the amount of

the requested 57

million pesos

for the funding of the

Clinical Legal Education Program

wherein it is

sought to provide free legal

aid for the marginalized,

streamline referral systems,

provide law clinic grants

and community access to justice

not only as per law

but as per the Supreme Court

guidelines and for the betterment

of the access of the

marginalized to

legal services that can be provided

by law schools that is currently

right now not streamlined

and difficult to avail.

Madam Speaker, good sponsor.

What does the sponsor say?

Madam Speaker, before I

respond to the proposed amendment,

I would like to reiterate my commitment.

Thank you to our distinguished colleague for

not objecting to the

rejection of the previous amendment.

We reiterate the commitment

of the House to work with

our distinguished colleague in finding a solution

to this. Essentially,

every year, there's a deficiency that

keeps on accruing and accruing

and accruing. As I mentioned

before, we will work together

with DBM, with PASOK,

and with CHED to make sure that

the root cause of this problem is addressed.

And we will also work

with you in investigating

the reports of the

SUCs that the

word may is being used to

disallow them from accessing the fund.

So, again, my commitment

to our distinguished colleague that we will

continue to work together to address

the root cause of this problem.

With regard to the proposed amendment, Madam

Speaker, as much as we

would like to accommodate the

57 million funding being

proposed for the

Legal Education Board,

given the limited

fiscal space, the Budget Amendments Review

Subcommittee

had to make the difficult decision

of prioritizing

which items within the higher

education cluster we could

fund. And

Madam Speaker, given the

urgency of the situation,

the Budget

Amendments Review Subcommittee

recommended to fund the big

ticket items under

the higher education cluster, as

mentioned earlier, the tertiary education

subsidy, the Tulong-Dulong

program, Project NOAA

for UP,

and those

already took up 2.1,

1.7 billion

of our funding. And with

that, Madam Speaker, I

regret to say

that given the limited fiscal space,

the committee respectfully rejects