PRESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and his Cabinet officials ensured that the 2025 budget approved by Congress is in accordance with the Constitution, Malacañang said Thursday, adding that prudence is being exercised amid the country’s limited fiscal space.
Executive Secretary Lucas P. Bersamin made the statement four days before the expected signing of the proposed P6.352 trillion 2025 national budget on December 30.
“The President and the Cabinet are currently (with or without the calls) thoroughly reviewing the various items of the GAA (General Appropriations Act) to bring them into line with the Constitution,” he said.
He said the president and Cabinet officials are also ensuring that the proposed budget “prioritizes the administration’s key legacies.”
The presidential palace said last week that the president is expected to veto some parts of the budget law, amid the backlash caused by cuts in social services budgets, including education, and the elimination of state subsidies. for the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth).
Mr. Marcos earlier promised to restore the proposed budget of the Department of Education (DepEd), especially the P10 billion in funding for its 2025 automation program. However, the President justified cutting PhilHealth’s funding despite concerns over its fiscal health, citing its reserves.
“The President has been very careful in programming and spending our limited budgetary resources,” Mr. Bersamin said in Thursday’s statement.
Senator Juan Miguel F. Zubiri, who served as Senate president in the early years of the Marcos administration, on Wednesday urged the Marcos administration to investigate the alleged controversial provisions of the budget law.
He cited concerns over the cuts to DepEd’s automation program, the possible unconstitutionality of the education sector no longer being the priority of the spending plan, and the elimination of PhilHealth.
On December 19, Mr. Marcos said he and Cabinet officials would recast the proposed national budget into “the same form” that the executive branch submitted in July.
The President said they can also “review” the items in the budget through “insertion.”
DepEd reported a commitment rate of 41.9% as of August, ranking 11the between government agencies regarding the use of the budget. Still, the rate is higher than Congress, which had the lowest obligation rate at 8.8% but received a P16.35 billion increase in the bicameral conference committee’s version.
The allocation of the Ministry of Public Works and Highways in the budget approved by Congress increased by 288 billion euros to 1.1 trillion euros. And as the agency responsible for most of the government’s key infrastructure projects became a net gainer, the agencies responsible for key social services faced massive budget cuts.
In the bicam version of the spending plan, the budget of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Development fell by 95 billion euros to 217.3 billion euros, while that of the Ministry of Health fell by 25.7 billion euros to 247 billion euros.
Mr. Marcos said last week that the country does not have a significant amount of savings, “so we have to be careful about what we spend it on.”
The P6.352 trillion national budget is equivalent to 22.1% of the country’s gross domestic product, and 10.1% higher than this year’s P5.768 trillion budget.
The government aims to reduce the ratio of public debt to gross domestic product to 60.6% by the end of 2024 and to below 60% by 2028.
The ratio stood at 61.3% at the end of September, up from 60.2% a year earlier, but still below the 60% threshold considered manageable for developing economies by multilateral lenders. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza