House set to start 2025 bugdet deliberations on Aug. 5

The House of Representatives under the leadership of Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez received from Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman the proposed P6.352-trillion National Expenditure Program for Fiscal Year 2025 on July 29, 2024. With this, the Committee on Appropriations will soon start the deliberations for the country’s national spending plan which aims to deliver social and economic transformation and position the Philippines as a prosperous, inclusive, and resilient society. PHOTO FROM HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives will start its deliberations on the proposed  P6.352-trillion national budget for 2025 on Monday, according to Speaker Martin Romualdez.

In a statement on Sunday, Romualdez said first to face the lower chamber are Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman, Finance Secretary Ralph Recto, National Economic and Development Authority Director General Arsenio Balisacan, and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Gov. Eli Remolona Jr.

The four members of the economic team of the Development Budget Coordination Committee will brief lawmakers “on the state of the country’s economy and the macro-economic assumptions used in putting together the proposed 2024 spending program,” according to Romualdez.

READ: House set to receive on Monday the proposed P6.3 trillion budget for 2025

“Our economic expansion, projected by multi-lateral financial institutions at between 5.9-6.2 percent next year, should be felt by our people, especially the poor, in terms of more job and income opportunities, more affordable food on their table and lower consumer prices,” he said.

“They say they cannot eat economic growth. If the majority of our people do not feel our economic expansion, they should at least see it in terms of the proper use of the national budget for social services, education, health, infrastructure, and direct financial assistance to the poor and other vulnerable sectors,” he added.

Romualdez also said he wanted increased allocations to the services mentioned and pro-poor programs.

On Tuesday, Romualdez said Philippine Gaming and Amusement Corp. and Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office officials will brief the committee on appropriations since these two are “major contributors to the national treasury, along with the Bureau of Internal Revenue and Bureau of Customs.

The lawmaker added that the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development, as well as the Department of Energy, the Commission on Higher Education and Energy Regulatory Commission will be up for briefing on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively.

The lower chamber is set to approve the President’s budget proposal before Congress goes on recess later next month, adding that the appropriations committee will conduct hearings up to Sept. 9.

The 2025 National Expenditure Program will be called the General Appropriations Act when signed into law by the president.