Deferred 2025 GAA signing a healthy sign of democracy – Poe

Sen. Grace Poe, chairperson of the Committee on Finance, during one of the Senate deliberations. (Senate Public Relations and Information Bureau)

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Grace Poe on Wednesday said that Malacanang’s decision to defer the signing of the General Appropriations Act (GAA) for further assessment by President Ferdinand “Bongbong’ R. Marcos Jr. is a healthy sign of democracy. 

Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin said certain items and provisions of the national budget bill will be vetoed in the interest of public welfare. 

Poe, for her part, said the Senate needs to support the checks and balances of the budgetary process. 

“The President has the authority to assess the budget and approve or veto the proposed GAA. I believe his economic managers are giving the President the best advice possible given the situation. The GAA is the most important piece of legislation that can determine our economic stability and our gross domestic product growth in 2025,” she told reporters in a text message on Wednesday.

A similar sentiment was aired by Senate President Francis Escudero, who noted that the Palace’s decision is part of the legislative process and the system of checks and balances in the Philippine Constitution. 

“The Executive is well within its rights and prerogatives to review, study, and make line-item vetoes—as is usually done every year with the General Appropriations Bill—especially given its length, complexity, and detail,” he said. 

Marcos earlier vowed to restore the P10 billion that was slashed from the proposed funding of the Department of Education (DepEd), previously explaining that the proposed cut from the DepEd’s computerization program was “contrary to the policy direction” of his administration on education.

The proposed 2025 national budget is 10.1 percent higher than the current national budget of P5.768 trillion, as projected earlier by the Department of Budget and Management.