‘No secret bicam,’ Dec. 13 conference open to public – Gatchalian ~ HUMAN RIGHTS PROMOTIONS

Friday, December 12, 2025

‘No secret bicam,’ Dec. 13 conference open to public – Gatchalian

Friday, December 12, 2025 Herbert Curia - Promoter No comments

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‘No secret bicam,’ Dec. 13 conference open to public – Gatchalian

MANILA, Philippines — No secret bicameral conference committee meetings have transpired following the change in the budget deliberations’ schedule, according to Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian.

Gatchalian, head of the Senate panel on finance, said the bicam meeting for the 2026 budget will only begin on Saturday, Dec. 13, as scheduled, emphasizing that it will still be open to the public.

“There is no secret bicam. The discussions will take place in the bicam,” Gatchalian told reporters in a virtual press conference on Friday.

“Of course, on our side, we are preparing because there are many documents, so we have to prepare early and make sure the preparation is detailed. There really is a lot of preparation needed,” he said.

The bicam meeting was supposed to transpire from Friday until Sunday, Dec. 14, but both chambers of Congress decided to reschedule it following requests made by the technical staff of the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Gatcalian said these personnel asked for “one more day” to craft the details of the matrix and reconcile the conflicting provisions and amounts, given that budget documents at present are disjointed.

In relation to this, Senate President Vicente Sotto III earlier said they are making sure that all details are exhibited and exposed for transparency so the House of Representatives can examine the Senate version of the budget and for senators to examine theirs as well.

Meanwhile, when Gatchalian was asked if he was certain that no insertions would be made during the bicam, he said he was hoping that there would not be.

“We also can’t predict what our members will propose or how they will justify it. I hope not, because in the Senate, we are very strict that only disagreeing provisions should be tackled,” noted the senator.

Despite the rescheduling of the bicam meeting, Gatchalian remained firm that the risk of having a reenacted budget for 2026 remains low.

Earlier, the lawmaker himself said the proposed P6.7-trillion national budget for 2026 may be sent to President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. for signing by Dec. 29, 2025. /apl