Budget talks prompt heated, funny retorts in Senate

Senate President Francis Escudero, together with other senators, receives a copy of the National Expenditure Program for fiscal year 2025 from Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman at the Senate Ceremonial Hall in Pasay City on July 29, 2024. Also in photo are Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada; Majority Leader Francis Tolentino; Sens. Grace Poe, Alan Peter Cayetano, and Victor Joseph Ejercito; Budget Undersecretaries Sasa Del Rosario, Leo Larcia, Wilford Wong; and DBM Assistant Sec. Diana Camacho-Mercado. PHOTO: Official Facebook page of the Department of Budget and Management

MANILA, Philippines — Although heated sometimes, the marathon sessions on the 2025 national budget can also be entertaining at times.

This was evident on Tuesday as the Senate tackled the proposed  P178.273-billion budget of the Department of Agriculture (DA).

Senate Minority Leader Aqulino “Koko” Pimentel III’s repeated questions about the insurance coverage for farmers, for instance, led Sen. Cynthia Villar to say this:

“Nase-settle lahat ng insurance claim, kaya lang hindi nako-cover lahat ng insurance? Naiintindihan mo?” asked Villar, who was defending the agency’s budget in the plenary.

(All the insurance claims are settled, but not all of them are covered by the insurance. Do you understand?)

“Hindi nga po. Kaya nga ako nagpa-follow up questions,” said Pimentel, who was trying to hold back his laughter.

(No. That’s why I’m asking follow-up questions.)

As the minority leader continued with his line of questioning, Villar could be heard castigating someone in the session hall.

“Ang gulo-gulo naman. Huwag mo na guluhin hindi mo naman ma-explain nang maayos,” she said.

(It is very messy. Don’t mess it up because you cannot explain it properly.)

Noticing this, Pimentel moved to suspend the session.

But how do you get the swift approval of an agency’s budget without a single question from senators?

Take the lead from the head of the Senate committee on finance, Sen. Grace Poe, who went straight to ask her colleagues if they had questions about the P6-billion proposed budget for the Office of the Ombudsman.

“I’m now ready to accept questions from our colleagues, if there are any. And even better if there are none,”  Poe said.

No member asked a question, and the Ombudsman’s budget was considered for the final approval of the upper chamber.

It was a different story, however, last week when a question was raised to Sen. Pia Cayetano, who was then defending the proposed budget of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) for 2025.

READ: Sen. Padilla denies cursing PhilHealth chief at Senate session hall

Cayetano sought the permission of the chamber to allow her to read the phone-in questions of Senators Loren Legarda and Cynthia Villar about the implementation of the Universal Health Care (UHC), particularly the benefits and the process of availing it.

On the process of availing the UHC, Cayetano said it could be done through a quick registration on site, adding that PhilHealth has a website or brochures that could be accessed by its members for other information.

But Tolentino still asked: “And will the phone-in questions be answered by the good chairperson of the committee?”

“The Majority Floor Leader was not listening,” Cayetano said, noting that she did not change her voice when she earlier gave the answers to the questions.

“Hindi naman ako nag-modulate (I did not modulate)…But they will also provide a more lengthy written response,” she added.

Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy  Estrada could be heard laughing after her remarks.