House gearing up for budget deliberations

MANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives is gearing up for the deliberations on the proposed national budget for 2025 of the Marcos administration amounting to P6.352 trillion.

A seminar was held last week among the chiefs of staff of congressmen where the intricacies of budget evaluation and analysis were discussed.

The end goal is to facilitate informed decision-making and enhance strategic planning and legislative procedures.

Department of Budget and Management division chief Johnny Castillo, one of the resource persons, gave an overview of the budget process, refreshing participants on budget concepts such as appropriations, allotments, obligations, cash allocation and disbursements.

Castillo tackled the dimensions of the expenditure program, emphasizing the importance of each step in ensuring efficient and effective use of public funds.

He elaborated on fundamental principles of managing expenses, which encompass fiscal discipline, allocative efficiency and operation efficiency.

He also provided budget frameworks that can help guide the budget formulation and implementation process.

According to House Speaker Martin Romualdez, the national budget or the National Expenditure Program is one of the priority legislations of the chamber.

Romualdez said the House will “work again doubly hard” to pass the proposed budget under the 2025 General Appropriation Bill before Congress goes on break in September.

He added the chamber would prioritize funding for agriculture, education, modernization and welfare of the armed forces, infrastructure and the “legacy projects” of the administration.