Education continues to hold biggest slice of budget for 2025

Elementary students attend class at General Roxas Elementary School in Quezon City in this file photo taken on February 21, 2024.
INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE

MANILA, Philippines — Education continues to hold the highest allocation of budget among the priority sectors in the proposed National Expenditure Program (NEP) for 2025, with public works following at a close second.

For 2025, the government proposes a national budget of P6.352 trillion, 5.66 percent higher than the P5.767 trillion financial blueprint in 2024.

The proposed budget is equivalent to 22.1 percent of the country’s gross domestic product.

According to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), the majority of the proposed budget will be funded by the country’s revenue at P4.6 trillion — P4.3 trillion of which accrued from tax collection revenues, P210.8 billion from non-tax revenues, P101 billions from privatization process revenues.

The projected P1.537 trillion deficit will then be generated from foreign and domestic lenders.

Priority sectors

Of the 10 priority sectors, Education — composed of the Department of Education, State Universities and Colleges, Commission on Higher Education and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority — has once again received the highest allocation at a whopping P977.6 billion.

This proposed budget for 2025 is even slightly higher than the allocated budget in the 2024 General Appropriations Act (GAA) which was at P968.9 billion.

At a close second was Public Works, consisting of the Department of Public Works and Highways, at P900 billion.

While remaining as one of the top sectors with the highest budget set aside, the proposed budget for public works is almost a P100 billion lower from P997.9 billion in the GAA 2024.

The sector with the third highest allocation is Health (which includes the state-owned insurance provider Philippine Health Insurance Corporation) at P297.6 billion.

It received a slight decrease from 2024’s budget of P308.3 billion.

The Interior and the Local Government (or the Department of the Interior and Local Government or DILG), on the other hand, received a total allocation of P278.4 billion — a small increase from its P263 billion budget in 2024.

A total of P256.1 billion, meanwhile, was allocated to the Defense sector, an increase from its P240.6 billion budget in 2024.

Social Welfare then received an earmarked budget of 230.1 billion, lower than the previous year’s P248.1 billion.

The government then allocated P211.3 billion to Agriculture, a cut lower from its P221.7 2024 budget.

In Transportation, the government appropriated P180.9 billion. It notably received the highest increase, more than double its budget in 2024 of P73.9 billion.

The Judiciary sector then received an allocation of P63.6 billion, while the Justice sector received P40.6 billion.

Both sectors’ proposed budgets were higher than in 2024, which was at P60.2 billion and P38.2 billion, respectively.

Secret funds

Meanwhile, when it comes to what is perhaps the most contentious topic during the budget season—the confidential and intelligence funds (CIFs), several agencies were noted to have received significant allocations.

Among the highest, according to the DBM in a Malacañang press conference on Thursday, included the Office of the President which had proposed CIFs of P4.5 billion.

The Department of National Defense, on the other hand, had proposed CIFs of P1.8 billion, while the Armed Forces of the Philippines and P1.7 billion.

The DILG also has proposed CIFs of P906.6 million, while P579.4 in CIFs were proposed for the Department of Justice.

Other agencies that received varying number of CIFs included the following agencies:

• Department of Social Welfare and Development –  P18 million
• Department of Transportation – P405 million
• Anti-Money Laundering Council – P7.5 million
• Games and Amusement Board – P4 million
• National Intelligence Coordinating Agency – P991.2 million
• National Security Council – P250 million
• Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity  – P60 million
• Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency – P500 million

In total, proposed CIFs were at P10.29 billion, which the DBM noted to be 16 percent lower than the P12.378 billion in 2024.

It should be noted that for 2025, the Office of the Vice President did not request for any CIFs.

Unprogrammed funds

Unprogrammed appropriations, meanwhile, total P158.6 billion, accounting for only 2.5 percent of the total proposed budget for next year.

Unprogrammed funds refer to standby appropriations, which the DBM previously explained to be an “important tool for the government to address unforeseen expenditures and prioritize essential programs and projects.”

The proposed unprogrammed budget for 2025 is significantly lower than the P731.4 billion in 2024 —  lower by 78.31 percent, to be exact.

Debt servicing

Under the proposed NEP, a total of P876.7 billion (13.8 percent of the total budget) was then allocated to be spent for debt payments in 2025.

The allocated figure is higher than the 12.1 percent share or P699.2 billion allocation in the 2024 budget.

This debt servicing amount includes P848 billion for interest payments, which is 26.5 percent higher than the P670.5 billion in 2024.

A separate P28.7 billion is then reserved for net lending.

Data from the Bureau of Treasury as of end-May shows that the government’s outstanding debt is currently at P15.347 trillion.

What’s next for the proposal

With the 2025 NEP now formally turned over to the House of Representatives and the Senate on Monday, lawmakers will then have to scrutinize the proposed budget.

While both chambers can already start deliberating on the proposed budget, the Senate would have to wait for the House version of the General Appropriations Bill (GAB) before it could make significant changes.

The House had already stated that it will aim to finish its deliberations on the proposal by the third or fourth week of September to give the Senate enough time to scrutinize it too.

READ: House confident about approving 2025 budget before October

The Senate, for its part, said it will start deliberating on the proposed national budget on August 13 and is aiming to finish doing so by the end of the year.

READ: Senate deliberation on 2025 budget set to start on Aug. 13

After individual deliberations, a bicameral conference committee is then usually convened to resolve differences between the House and the Senate’s version of their GAB.

Once settled, the final version would then be ratified and forwarded to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for his signature or veto.

Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman, for her part, assured the public and the Congress that the DBM is ready to defend the proposed budget during the deliberations.

“We are all ready to defend our budget in Congress – both in the House of Representatives and the Senate in the coming weeks,” she said in a Malacañang press briefing on Thursday.