DBM chief: Marcos to veto 2-3 items in 2023 GAB; marks P70B realignment in budget

Department of Budget and Management Secretary Amenah Pangandaman speaks during the weekly Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum held at Café Adriatico in Malate, Manila, on Wednesday, December 14, 2022. INQUIRER.net/Ryan Leagogo

MANILA, Philippines — Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Amenah Pangandaman on Wednesday said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will veto two to three items in the 2023 General Appropriations Bill (GAB) as she noted the realignment of roughly P70 billion in the bicameral-approved national budget for next year.

According to Pangandaman, the President is set to sign the 2023 GAB this Friday, December 16.

READ: House, Senate leaders confident 2023 nat’l budget signed before Christmas

“From what I know po, there’s the amount of roughly P70 billion that they realigned. Upon our initial analysis and checking of the numbers, most of it naman went to our [priorities],” she said at the weekly Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum.

Among these priorities, as mentioned by the DBM chief, were education, social assistance to senior citizens, and transportation, specifically, the Edsa carousel.

“I think we only have two vetoes, two to three direct vetoes, and all the rest are just conditional and general observations,” Pangandaman also said.

She then pointed out that the bicameral conference committee had approved the confidential and intelligence funds (CIFs).

To recall, some lawmakers and observers protested the CIFs for the Office of the Vice President and Department of Education – which are being helmed by Sara Duterte – calling it “unprecedented.”

READ: OVP not entitled to intel funds – Pimentel, Hontiveros

“During the bicameral committee, while in the Senate, parang they removed it, pero during the ratification, it was restored, and all of those were in the [National Expenditure Program] already,” she explained referring to the CIFs.

On December 5, the bicameral conference committee approved the proposed P5.268 trillion national budget for 2023 with the restored CIFs. The panel likewise reinstated fund cuts for the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict in next year’s budget.

KGA