SPENDING PLAN The House committee on appropriations will soon start the deliberations for the country’s national spending plan as Speaker Martin Romualdez on Monday receives from Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman the proposed P6.352-trillion National Expenditure Program for 2025. —photo from the House of Representatives
MANILA, Philippines — More than half of the proposed P6.352-trillion national budget for 2025 will go to social and economic services, while the controversial confidential and intelligence funds (CIFs) have been limited to agencies with functions related to national security.
The House of Representatives on Monday formally received from Malacañang the budget proposal for next year, which is 10.1 percent more than the P5.768-trillion 2024 national budget.
Speaker Martin Romualdez said job creation, quality education, expanded health care and social protection would be given priority by the House in allocating funds for the 2025 national budget.
READ: A record-high national budget
In his message, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. expressed optimism that the 2025 budget would sustain the country’s momentum of “economic and social transformation” to make the Philippines a front-runner in the Asia-Pacific region.
Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman said the P10.29-billion allocation for CIFs in the 2025 National Expenditure Program (NEP) was lower by 16 percent from last year.
No more CIF was allocated to the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education (DepEd), which was previously headed by Vice President Sara Duterte.
The CIF in the 2025 NEP is made up of P4.37 billion in confidential funds and P5.92 billion in intelligence funds.
The Office of the President was allocated P4.46 billion in CIF; the Department of National Defense, the Armed Forces of the Philippines and its major services, P1.8 billion; the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency, P991.2 million; the Philippine National Police, P806 million; the Department of Justice’s Office of the Secretary, the Bureau of Immigration, National Bureau of Investigation, and the Office of the Solicitor General, P579.4 million; and the Department of Transportation (DOTr), particularly the Office of Transportation Security and the Philippine Coast Guard, P405 million.
Pangandaman said that P1.8 billion in CIF was allocated for executive offices, including the Anti-Money Laundering Council.
Cuts
Under the 2025 NEP, P2.12 trillion or 33.4 percent has been set aside for social services; P1.85 trillion (29.2 percent) for economic services; P1.08 trillion (17 percent) for general public services; P876.7 billion (13.7 percent) for debt service; and P419.3 billion (6.6 percent) for defense.
A P13-billion contingency fund was also allotted for 2025, which Pangandaman said could not be used for CIF requests of nonsecurity agencies unless the President declares it extremely necessary.
“There are safeguards to prevent abuse from the contingent fund. The fund can only be used for specific urgent needs such as legal obligations with final decisions (and to meet the requirements) of newly created agencies,” she said.
The DepEd, state universities and colleges, the Commission on Higher Education, and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority are getting a total of P977.6 billion next year.
The DOTr was allocated P180.9 billion for transport development and modernization.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development was given P230.1 billion, down from last year’s P248.1 billion, for various social protection programs.
The Department of Agriculture, its attached agencies, and the Department of Agrarian Reform were allotted P211.3 billion to ensure food security, although this was lower than last year’s P221.7 billion.
The Department of Public Works and Highways’ proposed P900-billion budget is also lower than the P997.9 billion set aside in the 2024 budget.
The allocation of P297.6 billion for the Department of Health, including the Philippine Health Insurance Corp., similarly decreased from the 2024 national budget’s P308.3 billion. —with reports from Melvin Gascon and Mariedel Irish U. Catilogo