Marcos calls for ‘conscientious utilization’ of 2025 budget

By Darryl John Esguerra, Philippine News Agency

FILE: After thorough review and scrutiny, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. signed the 2025 national budget on Monday. (PCO Photo)

MANILA – President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has urged government agencies to use the 2025 national budget responsibly.

On Monday, Marcos signed into law the 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA) after vetoing PHP194 billion in line items he deemed inconsistent with his administration’s priorities.

The original budget was set at PHP6.352 trillion, but the vetoes reduced it to PHP6.326 trillion.

In his veto message made public on Tuesday, Marcos emphasized that the 2025 budget reflects the “liberal exercise of Congress’ power of the purse.”

“I call on the conscientious utilization of this Budget with the end in mind of sustaining the country’s high-growth trajectory and managing inflation while accelerating the implementation of well-targeted social services and structural reforms geared towards achieving our medium-term goals of reducing poverty incidence, decreasing unemployment rates, and achieving upper middle-income status,” Marcos said.

Although the final GAA for 2025 differs significantly from the Executive’s proposed budget, Marcos reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to “continued implementation and innovation of reforms in public financial management, procurement, and digitalization.”

He stressed the importance of a “whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach” for a more efficient and transparent public service.

“While we have attained much thus far, we still have a long way to go in achieving a truly inclusive, sustainable and future-proof economy,” he added.

In explaining his vetoes, Marcos stated that the administration aims to ensure that government spending “directly responds to the needs of the Filipino people,” while pursuing “strategic growth-enhancing fiscal consolidation.”

“We must be clearly driven by this goal because much as we want to do everything we wish for our people immediately and all at the same time, our finite resources compel us to exercise sound judgment to ensure our fiscal sustainability – we must not compromise our future, thus, the imperative need to program our priorities,” he said.

Among the vetoed items, PHP26.065 billion were projects under the Department of Public Works and Highways, and PHP168.240 billion were allocated to unprogrammed appropriations.

The President also subjected a number of programs, including the Ayuda Para sa Kapos Ang Kita Program, to “conditional implementation” under the 2025 GAA.

Items under conditional implementation would require issuing guidelines by concerned agencies to ensure compliance with relevant laws, policies, and regulations.