By means of Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza, Reporter
PHILIPPINE President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. signed the P6.326 trillion 2025 national budget on Monday, but vetoed items worth more than P194 billion that he said were not in line with his administration’s priorities.
These include appropriations for certain programs of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and non-programmed funds that have been increased four times, Mr. Marcos said during the budget signing ceremony at the Presidential Palace.
“We recognize that our resources are finite and the needs of our people are abundant. That is why we must craft the details of the budget carefully, so much so that even grand ambitions and grand plans must be tempered,” the President said.
“We must exercise maximum caution, otherwise we risk increasing our deficits and debts and derailing our development agenda for our country.”
The national budget of P6.326 trillion is 0.4% lower than the P6.352 trillion spending plan that the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) submitted to Congress in August. This corresponds to 22% of the expected gross domestic product (GDP) in 2025.
Marcos was initially scheduled to sign the budget on December 20, but this was postponed to allow for a “more rigorous” review after questions were raised over the revisions made by the bicameral conference committee.
The items vetoed by Mr. Marcos include P26.065 billion worth of projects under the DPWH and projects worth P168.24 billion under “unprogrammed appropriations.”
Public Works Secretary Manuel M. Bonoan said the vetoed projects were “not ready for implementation.” “In any case, it will take some time before we can ensure that these are implemented immediately,” he said in mixed English and Filipino.
Mr. Marcos also noted that unprogrammed appropriations under the budget law approved by Congress increased by 300%.
At a briefing after the signing ceremony, Budget Secretary Amenah F. Pangandaman said unprogrammed appropriations now make up 4.7% of the General Appropriations Act of 2025, “consistent” with the standard that standby funds should have. only 5% of the total budget.
She said the education sector will still receive the highest allocation at P1.053 trillion, amid questions over the legality of the massive budget cuts facing the Department of Education (DepEd).
The education sector consists of DepEd, state universities and colleges (SUCs), the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).
Ms. Pangandaman said the DPWH will now have a budget of P1.007 trillion for 2025, lower than the P1.034 trillion funding approved by Congress.
Apart from the vetoed items, Mr. Marcos said there will be “conditional implementation” on certain items to ensure that “the people’s funds used in accordance with their authorized and stated purposes.”
This includes the Ayuda sa Kapos Ang Kita Program (AKAP), which was originally implemented by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), but will now be jointly implemented with the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) and the National Economic and Development cooperation. Development Authority (NEDA).
The implementation of AKAP, which provides one-time cash support of up to 5,000 euros for workers “will be strategically important, leading to a long-term improvement in the lives of qualified beneficiaries, while providing protection against misuse and abuse.” duplication,” Mr. Marcos said.
Executive Secretary Lucas P. Bersamin told reporters that the AKAP will have strict guidelines, but did not rule out local politicians seeking funding for their constituents.
“Don’t be naive. Don’t be naive,” he said. “In our lives here in the Philippines, there always has to be someone who takes the initiative.”
He added that the national government is not fully aware of local situations. “It should come from lower levels.”
Public finance analyst Zyza Nadine M. Suzara said the direct veto on P168 billion worth of items under non-programmed credits” does not meancannot change the structure of the 2025 national budget,” meaning that “pork remains huge in the DPWH budget.”
“First of all, projects with unprogrammed credits cannot be released unless certain conditions are met,” she said in an X message. “The president and economic managers have simply given in to the bicam’s decisions.”
EDUCATION
Meanwhile, Ms. Pangandaman reiterated that unprogrammed appropriations can be used for DepEd’s automation program.
“As long as we have additional revenue from the DoF (Department of Finance), we can actually increase or increase the budget of DepEd, especially for the automation program,” she said.
Bicam members had cut DepEd’s budget by P12 billion, including P10 billion for the automation program.
Enrico P. Villanueva, who teaches money and banking at the University of the Philippines Los Baños, said bicam members inflated the DPWH budget by P288 billion, but the president “only reduced it by P26.1 billion, which is not even 10% of the increase dictated by Congress.”
“To many Filipinos, this Congress-initiated increase is considered pork barrel because it has not undergone the consultative budget process involved in formulating the National Expenditure Program,” he said in an X message. “People also see infrastructure projects as a source of corruption and possible funding for the 2025 elections.”
“If the President wanted to address the concerns of the people, he should have vetoed the increase in the DPWH budget substantially, if not completely.”
Jose Enrique “Sonny” A. Africa, executive director of the Ibon Foundation, said the president’s last-minute attempt to veto a number of issues was intended to “address an obvious constitutional problem to prevent the entire budget for the education sector being lower than that of the DPWH alone.”
“The small P26.1 billion cut in the DPWH budget was just enough to claim that the budget for the education sector, defined as DepEd, SUCs, CHED and TESDA combined, is more than DPWH’s P1.007 trillion, he said in a Facebook Messenger chat.
Mr. Africa also noted that the P1.055 trillion allocation to the education sector is less than the P1.13 trillion budget for infrastructure, including the P1.007 trillion for the DPWH’s projects and P123.7 billion for the projects from the Department of Transportation. projects.
A reintroduced budget should have been used for the first quarter of the year, he said, while “a socially rational, people-oriented budget for 2025 should be drawn up and deliberated transparently.”
However, Mr. Marcos said in his speech that a reinstated budget would “delay vital programs and jeopardize economic growth goals.”
The Marcos administration may have turned away from operating under a reimagined budget, but it ignored health care and other forms of social protection “that can increase labor’s contribution to overall productivity,” said Leonardo A. Lanzona, an economics professor at the Ateneo de Manila University. via Messenger chat.
PHILHEALTH
Another analyst said the president has failed to address concerns over the elimination of the state subsidy for the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth), the agency responsible for implementing universal healthcare.
“It is frustrating, heartbreaking and very unheroic on the day of Rizal anniversary,” health lawyer and former Department of Health advisor Anthony C. Leachon said of the President’s inaction in defunding PhilHealth.
Mr. Marcos promised in his speech to expand benefits for PhilHealth members, a move that Mr. Leachon said was just “lip service.”
“How can you increase the benefits without the money? You cannot increase the benefits by not giving the 74 billion euros subsidy,” he said in a telephone interview.
Mr. Marcos previously defended the bicam’s move to disband PhilHealth, citing its reserve funds.
PhilHealth’s reserve funds, which are not surplus funds and are intended to reduce the amount of members’ contributions and expand services for them, will be eroded within two to three years, Mr. Leachon said.
“And you’re not supposed to spend that because they’re making a big mistake when they say the reserve funds are surplus funds. These are emergency funds that should be used to expand the benefit package, reduce premiums and reduce out-of-pocket expenses,” he said.
Meanwhile, the President also subjected 11 other items to conditional implementation, such as DSWD’s “PAyapa at MAsaganang PamayaNAn Program, the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund, and support for foreign-backed programs.
The use of surplus funds from annual tariff revenues from rice imports will also be subject to guidelines from the Ministries of Finance and Agriculture.
Four items in the 2025 budget were also placed under general observation to “clarify the changes made by Congress.” These items include the payment of additional compensation for the organizational structure of the Senate and the House of Representatives, as well as the electoral courts of the two chambers and the Appointments Committee.