BUDGET SCRUTINY President Marcos leads scrutiny of the proposed 2025 national budget with key Cabinet officials at Malacañang. With him are Finance Secretary Ralph Recto, Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman, Public Works Secretary Manuel Bonoan and Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan. — Photo from PRESIDENTIAL COMMUNICATIONS OFFICE
MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and his Cabinet are “thoroughly reviewing” the national budget for 2025 to ensure that it conforms to the 1987 Constitution, Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin said on Thursday.
Bersamin made the statement pertaining to the budget cuts for the Department of Education (DepEd), which several lawmakers deemed unconstitutional.
“The President and the Cabinet are RIGHT NOW (with or without the calls) thoroughly reviewing the various items of the GAA (General Appropriations Act) to make them conform to the Constitution and to see to it that the budget prioritizes the main legacy thrusts of the Administration,” Bersamin told reporters in a Viber message.
“The President has been most prudent in programming and spending of our limited fiscal resources,” he added.
Article XIV Section 5 of the 1987 Constitution states, “[t]he State shall assign the highest budgetary priority to education.”
However, the bicameral conference committee reduced DepEd’s budget to P737 billion after a P12 billion budget cut from the P748.6 billion funding approved by the House of Representatives.
Aside from DepEd, budget cuts include P86 billion from the Department of Social Welfare and Development and P74.5 billion from the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation.
On the other hand, the budget of the Department of Public Works and Highways ballooned from P825 billion to a record P1.1 trillion after about P289 billion increase.
These budget adjustments were flagged and contested by several groups, prompting Sen. Imee Marcos to agree with the possibility of reenacting the 2024 national fund rather than push for the legislation of the 2025 General Appropriations Bill.
However, Presidential Communications Office chief Cesar Chavez previously said there were no discussions on reenactment during Marcos’ meeting with the heads of the agencies which are part of the economic cluster.
Marcos will sign the measure on the national budget for 2025 on Dec. 30, Chavez added.