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ABS 2025
FMJ to sign 2025 national budget on December 30
By Nidz Godino
“Signing on 30 December 2024 after Rizal Day program in Manila,” Presidential Communications Office (PCO) Secretary Cesar Chavez told Palace reporters P6.352-trillion national budget for 2025 is set for enactment on Dec. 30 after undergoing “rigorous” examination by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.and key officials, who decided to maintain some of cuts and insertions made at the last minute by lawmakers.
Signing of spending measure by Marcos will coincide with country’s commemoration of Rizal Day.
Marcos deferred signing of proposed 2025 General Appropriations Act because of number of issues, including “insertions” without appropriate documentation and P12-billion cut in outlay of Department of Education. Cut in DepEd outlay goes against administration’s policy direction, officials said earlier.
Spending bill ratified by Congress on Dec. 11 was supposed to be enacted on Dec. 20.
Deferment was meant to “allow more time for rigorous and exhaustive review of measure that will determine course of the nation for next year,” Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin said in statement.
Bersamin earlier said the President is likely to veto certain items in the proposed national budget “in the interest of public welfare” and “in compliance with laws.”
Marcos met Bersamin, Finance Secretary Ralph Recto, Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman, National Economic and Development Authority Secretary Arsenio Balisacan and Public Works Secretary Manuel Bonoan at Bahay Pangulo on Monday to review spending bill. The President also met same officials at Malacañang on Dec. 18.
Marcos earlier vowed to restore multibillion-peso allocation slashed from DepEd’s budget, saying move to reduce agency’s proposed outlay for next year goes against his policy direction.
Apart from reduction in DepEd’s proposed budget, some sectors also criticized removal of subsidy for Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) for next year.
The Chief Executive upheld move to give PhilHealth zero subsidy, saying it has multibillion-peso reserve funds anyway.
According to the President, state-run health insurer has P500-billion reserve, but cost of providing its services in a year is just less than P100 billion.
Presidential sister Sen. Imee Marcos lamented decision of her brother to push through with signing of budget program despite cuts in allocation for education and health.
“Like thief of the night before New Year!” Sen. Marcos said.
She confirmed receiving advisory from the Presidential Legislative Liaison Office (PLLO) regarding ceremonial signing of budget program by the President.
“The President will hold ceremonial signing of FY2025 GAA at 9:30 in the morning on Dec 30 in Malacañang Palace,” Marcos said in Viber message to Senate reporters.
On Dec. 11, Congress approved bicameral conference committee report on P6.532-trillion national budget for 2025, retaining cut in the Office of Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio’s budget as tensions between her and President Marcos heightened.
Both Houses also thumbed up controversial Ayuda para sa Kapos ang Kita Program (AKAP) after senators were given their fair share from the program. House would get P21 billion while Senate would get P5 billion, or total of P26 billion.
The senator warned her brother that he is not allowed under the law to realign vetoed budget items to augment other projects, like use it to fix Department of Education’s P11.6-billion budget cut or PhilHealth’s zero subsidy.
“If the President does line item veto, they cannot use appropriation of the items vetoed to fund or augment other items in the budget….they will have less projects to fund, which may translate to deficit lower than what was originally programmed which may be good or bad thing, depending on who’s counting,” Marcos said.
She pointed out that P1.113-trillion budget for DPWH is unconstitutional because it exceeded DepEd’s P737 billion budget.
The least the President could do is to veto P188 billion worth of DPWH projects to make education budget priority again, Marcos said.
1987 Constitution states education should receive highest budgetary allocation in the national budget.
But vetoed DPWH funding may be factored in next year’s P531.665-billion unprogrammed appropriations, standby funds that can only be tapped when revenue exceeds target, the senator said.
“Unless they have different way of computing budgetary allocations for education, at least P188-billion public works projects should be slashed so that budget would not violate Constitution. So there may be at least P188 billion worth of rewards in unprogrammed appropriations for ‘old ye faithful,’” she said.
“Those unprogrammed funds can be released only if there is excess income, or if there are new sources of funds not included in Budget of Expenditures and Sources of Financing,” she stressed
Other projects earlier criticized by Senator Marcos are P26-billion budget for Department of Social Welfare and Development’s AKAP program and Department of Health’s Medical Assistance for Indigent Patients (MAIP) Program, she said can be used by politicians to court votes.
She has taken issue with AKAP, insertion by House of Representatives, after her falling out with her cousin, Speaker Martin Romualdez.
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