President Marcos to sign 2025 national budget bill today

MANILA, Philippines — President Marcos is scheduled to sign into law today the 2025 national budget that has been “refocused” to reflect the priorities of his administration.

The signing ceremony will take place 10 days after the original schedule of the enactment of the P6.352-trillion budget bill, which critics say carries unconstitutional provisions that could trigger legal challenges before the Supreme Court.

Marcos himself had issues with the spending bill passed by Congress, saying it had “insertions” with no clear documentation and several modifications of the funding requests made by some agencies.

He had vowed to regain contol of the spending program, which contains amendments inserted during the bicameral conference that deviated from his policy direction.

“The budget for 2025 will be refocused to (the) eight-point socioeconomic agenda of the President,” Presidential Communications Secretary Cesar Chavez told The STAR in a text message yesterday.

The Marcos administration’s eight-point socioeconomic agenda aims to lift the Philippines from the economic setbacks caused by the COVID-19 pandemic; achieve economic prosperity, inclusivity and resilience; develop and protect the capabilities of individuals and families and transform production sectors to create more quality jobs and competitive products.

By signing the 2025 national budget this year, Marcos will avoid reenacting the previous spending program, a scenario seen to delay the implementation of vital projects, affect government spending and hamper economic growth. The budget for the previous year is automatically reenacted if a fresh spending measure is not approved.

Concerns over a possible reenactment of the 2024 budget surfaced after some lawmakers and various sectors assailed the supposedly questionable allocations in the proposed spending plan for next year.

Malacañang had clarified that reenacting this year’s budget was not among the options tackled by Marcos and his economic team while they were reviewing the proposed appropriations law.

Among the issues raised against the version passed by Congress was the hefty increase in the allocation for public works, which surpassed the funding for education, the sector that must get the highest budgetary priority under the Constitution.

Marcos’ eldest sister, Sen. Imee Marcos, had noted that the P1.113-trillion public works budget was greater than the overall P925-billion outlay for basic, higher and technical-vocational education. According to her, the budget for public works should be reduced by at least P188 billion to make the 2025 budget compliant with the Constitution.

The Alliance of Concerned Teachers had likewise assailed Congress’ decision to reduce the budget of the Department of Education by P12 billion, saying it would severely impact students’ access to digital resources and widen the already “massive digital divide” among learners.

The teachers’ group had also scored what it described as “suspicious increases” in unprogrammed appropriations, saying the timing and nature of the realignments “clearly suggest political motivations rather than genuine concern for public welfare.”

There had been calls for Marcos to return the proposed 2025 budget to the bicameral conference committee, a panel composed of members of the House of Representatives and the Senate, to correct the contentious items. Marcos had ruled out the possibility, saying there is no mechanism to do so.

However, he had vowed to restore the budget cuts in education and to conduct a thorough review of the projects funded under the spending bill. The President had also pointed out that he was left with just his veto power since lawmakers had ended their budget deliberations.

In a recent statement, Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin allayed fears over the potential legal challenges against the 2025 budget, saying the President and his Cabinet were working to ensure that the spending program would be compliant with the Constitution.

He also gave assurance that Marcos has been “most prudent” in programming and spending the country’s limited fiscal resources.