DBM turns over to the House of Representatives the proposed P6.3 trillion national budget for 2025. Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman (fourth from right) hands over the proposal to House Speaker Martin Romualdez on July 29, 2024 at the House of Representatives. (Photo from GABRIEL LALU / INQUIRER.net)
MANILA, Philippines — Deliberations on the P6.3 trillion proposed national budget for 2025 can now start since the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has formally turned over the National Expenditures Program (NEP) to the House of Representatives.
During a program at the Batasang Pambansa complex on Monday, Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman and the DBM contingent handed over the NEP to lawmakers led by House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez.
The NEP contains the budget allocations made by the executive branch.
Under the 1987 Constitution, Congress can change allocations to items in the NEP, as long as it would not go above the ceiling set by the executive branch.
The submission of the proposed 2025 budget to Congress is the earliest under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s term, with the executive branch submitting the NEP to the House only seven days after the State of the Nation Address (Sona).
Under the 1987 Constitution, the executive is given 30 days after a president’s Sona to submit the NEP to Congress.
In 2022, DBM submitted the budget for the subsequent year on August 22.
In 2023, it was submitted on August 2, or nine days after Marcos’ second Sona.
READ: House formally receives proposed 2023 budget from DBM
READ: House gets P5.768-T proposed 2024 budget from DBM
Lawmakers have previously said the proposed 2025 budget will be scrutinized to ensure that the items in the NEP will be spent for the people.
Last July 3, the House committee on appropriations chairperson and Ako Bicol Party-list Rep. Elizaldy Co said the panel is ready to receive and discuss the budget.
READ: 2025 budget to undergo rigorous scrutiny, says lawmaker
Romualdez, meanwhile, said the passage of the 2025 proposed national budget is a priority, noting that the House will approve its version of the NEP before Congress adjourns its session in late September.
READ: 2025 budget approval a House priority, says Romualdez
After the turnover, lawmakers usually spend days reviewing the NEP before the appropriations panel starts deliberations at the committee level.
For the 2024 budget talks, committee-level discussions started on August 10, or eight days after DBM turned over the NEP.
After the committee approves its version of the NEP, it will now be contained in a General Appropriations Bill (GAB).
During this time, budget discussions would be held during plenary sessions.
Once the House approves the GAB, it will be forwarded to the Senate for another set of deliberations.
A bicameral conference committee is often convened to resolve differences in the House and the Senate GAB’s version.
After differences are reconciled, the final version would be ratified by both chambers, before it is forwarded to the President for his signature or veto.