Marilyn Cahatol

Article (news)

Victoria Tulad

ABS-CBN News

<p>MANILA <strong>(UPDATED)</strong> — The bicameral conference committee postponed the resumption of its hearing on Monday due to a deadlock over the 2026 budget of the Department of Public Works and Highways, Senate Finance Committee Chair Sherwin Gatchalian said.   </p><p>Lawmakers in the bicam — which reconciles versions of the 2026 national budget — wrangled Sunday over the request of the DPWH to reverse the P45-billion cuts made by the Senate to the House version of the agency&#x27;s budget. Senators were insisting on their cuts, which congressmen believe — if implemented — would make as many as 10,000 projects worth an estimated P400 billion unimplementable.</p><p>The conflict stems from the revised construction materials price data (CMPD) reduction, which the agency submitted to the Senate and which that chamber used as a basis for its cut. The House countered that the Senate erred in applying the reductions across the board.</p><p>Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon insisted that the CMPD should be applied on a per-project basis, citing that the costs of construction materials vary according to location. </p><p>&quot;Naghahanap tayo ng solusyon. Ako, committed ako maghanap ng solusyon. Sabi ko nga, makikipagtrabaho ako with DPWH para makita natin kung ano yung solusyon dito. Dahil ang gusto natin ay to move forward. Gusto natin ay umusad. So I&#x27;m open to working with the House and with the DPWH on that aspect,&quot; Gatchalian said.</p><p>The cancellation was announced after senators held a caucus Monday.</p><p>Gatchalian said he has informed his counterpart, House Appropriations Chair Mikaela Suansing.</p><div> </div><div><strong>SENATE FIRM VS. &#x27;OVERPRICED ITEMS&#x27;</strong></div><p>Gatchalian stressed the upper chamber is against any overpriced item, as they argue that the Senate&#x27;s basis for the budget cut was the DPWH&#x27;s own admission of existence of overpriced materials.</p><p>&quot;Kasi ang Senado, very firm, na ayaw namin ng overpriced items,&quot; Gatchalian said.</p><p>Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson maintained that there will be a deadlock unless Dizon admits they erred in their computation for a reduction of construction materials, which was the Senate&#x27;s basis for the budget cut for the agency.</p><p>&quot;Ayun nga, magpapalala dyan. Magde-deadlock tayo pag ganyan. Hindi kami papayag kasi hindi kami nagkamali. We just took the lead based on their pronouncements. Secretary Vince, the President No less. So we took the cue from them. Sila naman ang nakakalam ng computation eh. Kung saan makakatipid sa CMPD, di ba? Bakit ngayon ipapasa sa amin yung pagkakamali? Kami ba nag-compete nun?&quot; Lacson said. &quot;Contentious din yun. Kasi, very empathic si Secretary Vince Dizon, di ba? Na bawasan natin ng 25%, ang equivalent, P53-54 billion. Eh tapos ngayon, merong haggling somewhere in between. Sabi ko, hindi pupwede. &quot;</p><p>Gatchalian insisted that the Senate did not err in its across the board cut that was based on the DPWH admission that its construction materials were overpriced.</p><p>&quot;Hindi kami nagkamali dahil nanggaling sa kanila yung computation. Inapply lang namin. In fact, pumunta pa dito ang mga representatives ng DPWH para makipag-coordinate sa amin. So, kaya kampante kape na yung application namin ay naayon sa dokumento na ibinigay sa amin ng DPWH. Of course, ang opinion ng House iba. Baka nga magkaroon ng problema sa implementation. Kami naman, ang opinion namin, galing yan  sa DPWH, kaya tama yung application namin na pababain yung presyo ng materyales,&quot; he said.</p><p>&quot;Hindi naman kami expert. Inaamin ko, hindi ako expert pagdating sa implementation ng infrastructure projects. Ang rinequest lang namin sa kanila, kung sinasabing yung ang presyo na nasa loob ng 2026 budget ay overpriced, magkano yung overpriced na yun para pwede na namin tanggalin sa loob ng 2026 budget. Para pag-approve natin ng 2026 budget, wala na yung overpricing. Yun ang intention ng Senado. Kaya nung ginawa natin, in-approve yun sa committee report, in-approve yun sa third reading, kasi yun ang gusto ng mga senador na tanggalin yung overpricing na yun. At sa House, yun rin ang gusto nila. Kahapon narinig ko sa kanila, ayaw rin nila ng overpricing. Pare-pareho naman tayo na ayaw natin yung overpricing. So, ang nagiging issue lang nga ngayon, ang sinasabi ng DPWH ay hindi ma-implement yung iba. &quot;</p><p>Gatchalian said the Senate is against any overpriced budgets.</p><p> &quot;Ang Senado kasi very firm na ayaw ng overpriced materials. Yun ang firm. Pero ayaw rin natin hindi ma-implement yung projects. So, ito kasi technical issue ito. Kailangan DPWH talaga ang sumagot kung ano ba talaga ay yung kanilang nakikita. So, o ano yung kanilang pag-aaral. So, this is a very technical issue na kailangan talaga ng oras para makausap ang DPWH. &quot;</p><p>&quot;Basta ang concept is ang Senado firm sa ayaw ng overprice. But we also recognize na baka hindi ma-implement yung project o baka yung project ay umiksi o baka yung project hindi makompleto. So yun ang dapat pag-aralan. &quot;</p><div> </div><div><strong>&#x27;THERE IS TIME TO AVOID REENACTED BUDGET&#x27;</strong></div><p>Despite the deadlock, Gatchalian said they have time to avoid a reenacted budget, though the window is narrowing.</p><p>&quot;Kaya naman. Of course, lumiliit but I&#x27;m optimistic kaya naman matapos. But yung siyempre nakakain na ngayon namin yung mga buffer days, pero kaya naman. &quot;</p><p>&quot;Kailangan, hopefully matapos by Wednesday. Iyan ang target. &quot;</p><p>Gatchalian said a reenacted budget is not yet a possibility.</p><p>&quot;Hindi naman, as of this point. Hindi naman. May time, kasi naglagay rin kami ng buffer. Naglagay rin kami ng buffer. As of this time, di pa naman. &quot;</p><p> Senate President Vicente Sotto III said they are against the restoration of the budget.</p><p> &quot;Hindi, nagkamali sila eh,&quot; Sotto said.</p><p>Suansing emphasized that the House members also don&#x27;t want a re-enacted budget, stressing they are &quot;confident&quot; they can still avoid it.</p><p>“We will work doubly hard between now and Dec. 22. If need be, we may need to push a little bit but the goal is for it not to cross into the next calendar year. Ayaw po natin ang re-enacted budget. Hopefully, ‘yun ang tinitignan talaga natin. We don’t want it to come to that,” she said during a press conference at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC).</p><p>Senator Jinggoy Estrada meanwhile, criticized the appearance of Dizon before the bicameral panel.</p><p>&quot;For me, that was an unprecedented move by the contingent of the House and the contingent of the Senate to invite a Cabinet official in the Bicam Conference Committee. Never in the history, I have attended a lot of Bicam Conference Committee regarding the budget.&quot;</p><p>&quot;And secondly, they should have discussed it during the plenary debates, the budget, kahit sa committee hearing.&quot;</p><div> </div><div><strong>LATE INFO?</strong></div><p>In a statement, Suansing said majority of the House conferees are already assembled and supposedly ready to proceed at the venue when she was informed of the Senate&#x27;s decision to postpone the bicam hearing.</p><p>“As you can see… walo sa labing-isa na mga kinatawan ng bicam sa parte ng Kongreso ay nandito na sa PICC. Handa na po kami na ituloy itong bicameral conference committee proceedings,” she said.</p><p>Suansing noted that the lower chamber deliberately adjusted its session calendar, originally set to break for Christmas on December 17, just to comply with the agreed timeline.</p><p>She emphasized that making the most out of the limited time is necessary to discuss the matters concerning several agencies.</p><p>“May timeline na gustong sundin. Nakita nyo naman po in-adjust ang kalendaryo ng sesyon na dapat sa Dec. 22 ay ma-ratify na sa parehong chamber, sa parehong kapulungan ‘yun pong ating bicam report,” Suansing said.</p><p>“Marami pa pong mga ahensya na tatalakayin kaya bawat araw po talaga ay mahalaga para matapos natin ang budget sa tamang oras.&quot;</p><p>Suansing noted that the House members believe the budget discussions should continue in a collective manner.</p><p>&quot;All of us are here, we all believe that we should continue discussions. We can do the consultations with Sec. Vince and DPWH while we’re proceeding with the bicam,&quot; she explained.</p><p>&quot;Mas maganda po sana na lahat kami nasa iisang lugar para po talakayin ang mga katanungan… mas maganda na matalakay namin ‘yun,&quot; she added. <strong>-- with a report from Ched Rick Gatchalian, ABS-CBN News</strong></p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/12/9/marcos-directs-congress-to-prioritize-anti-dynasty-party-list-reform-bills-1227">Marcos urges Congress to prioritize Independent People’s Commission, anti-dynasty bills</a></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><div style="text-align:center"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JQz3pGT2j4s?si=1lbvi6US0F--HmaC" title="YouTube video player" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div>

<p>With 17 affirmative votes, no negative votes, and no abstention, the Senate approved on third and final reading Senate Bill 1506, also known as the Blockchain the Budget Bill or Citizen Access and Disclosure of Expenditures for National Accountability (CADENA) Act.</p>

With 17 affirmative votes, no negative votes, and no abstention, the Senate approved on third and final reading Senate Bill 1506, also known as the Blockchain the Budget Bill or Citizen Access and Disclosure of Expenditures for National Accountability (CADENA) Act.

Senate passes CADENA Act on third and final reading

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Senate passes CADENA Act on third and final reading

Victoria Tulad,

ABS-CBN News

Published December 15, 2025 06:43 PM PHT

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Updated December 15, 2025 08:16 PM PHT

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