Marcos’ office requests additional P5.2B for Asean Summit hosting
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed the 2025 General Appropriations Act on Dec. 30, 2024. PHOTO: Official Facebook page of the Presidential Communications Office
MANILA, Philippines — The Office of the President has requested an additional P5.2 billion from Congress for the Philippines’ scheduled hosting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Summit in 2026.
Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin disclosed this during a press briefing following President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s signing of the 2025 General Appropriations Act early Monday.
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“Humingi kami after the submission of the NEP (National Expenditure Program). Humingi kami sa Congress ng supplemental funds in addition to what we proposed for the OP sa NEP to the tune of P5.2 billion for 2025,” he said.
(We requested after the submission of the NEP. We asked Congress to allocate supplemental funds in addition to what we proposed for the OP in the NEP to the tune of P5.2 billion for 2025.)
Article continues after this advertisement“After 2025, we will ask for more, bigger, but that will be in the NEP that will be submitted in 2025 for 2026,” he added.
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Myanmar was initially set to host the 2026 Asean Summit but withdrew due to the ongoing civil war, which deterred heads of state from visiting the country.
The 2025 national budget was reduced to P6.326 trillion from the initial P6.352 trillion after Marcos vetoed P194-billion line items.
The education sector has been allocated the most significant cut from the budget, with funding amounting to P1.055 trillion.
It was followed by the Department of Public Works and Highways with P1.007 trillion.
