(UPDATE) PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Monday signed the P6.326-trillion national budget for 2025 but vetoed P194 billion worth of line items that he deemed “inconsistent with the administration’s priority programs.”
Marcos signed Republic Act 12116, or “An Act Appropriating Funds for the Operation of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2025,” in a ceremony at Malacañan Palace in Manila.
In his speech, Marcos said the executive listened to the public’s concerns over the version of the budget bill submitted by Congress to Malacañang.
“The executive branch is one with the people in raising concerns over appropriations that are not consistent with the country’s development plan and responsive to the needs of the people. After all, it is our people whom we serve,” he said.
“We take our role as stewards of our taxpayers’ money seriously. And for this reason, after an exhaustive and thorough review, we have directly vetoed over P194 billion worth of the line items that are not consistent with our programmed priorities,” he added.
The 2025 national budget, initially amounting to P6.352 trillion, was reduced to P6.326 trillion following the veto of the P194 billion worth of line items.
These cuts include the P26.065 billion worth of projects under the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), and P168.240 billion allocated under “Unprogrammed Appropriations.”
Marcos said that Unprogrammed Appropriations under the Congress-approved budget bill increased by 300 percent.
He said that there will be “conditional implementation of certain items” to ensure they are implemented “under the stated and authorized purpose.”
In line with this, the President said they were compelled to subject the implementation of the Ayuda sa Kapos ng Kita Program (AKAP) to the convergence program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), and the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).
“This way we ensure that its implementation will be strategic, leading to the long-term improvement of the lives of qualified beneficiaries, while guarding against misuse, and duplication and fragmented benefits,” he said.
“This approach is anchored on a simple yet profound truth: the appropriation of public funds must not break the public trust,” the President added.
The budget bill was supposed to be signed on Dec. 20, but Marcos delayed this after various groups demanded “corrective measures” in the version submitted by Congress. In the past two years, Marcos signed the budget bill more than a week earlier.
Marcos said the 2025 budget was designed to sustain economic growth and improve the lives of future generations, and should be carefully curated and scrutinized.
The education sector still got the lion’s share of the government allocation at P1.05 trillion.
This was followed by the DPWH at P1.007 trillion; the Department of National Defense, P315.1 billion; the Department of the Interior and Local Government, P279.1 billion; the Department of Health, P267.8 billion; and the Department of Agriculture, P237.4 billion.
The DSWD had an allocation of P217.5 billion; the Department of Transportation, P123.7 billion; the Judiciary, P64.0 billion; and the Department of Justice, P42.2 billion.
Marcos said the government should exercise maximum prudence otherwise, “we run the risk of increasing our deficit and debt, and derailing our development agenda for our country.”
While the final version of the budget reflects many of the administration’s priorities, the President said certain provisions required “careful scrutiny” to ensure that every centavo is spent on programs that truly benefit the Filipino people.
“The Filipino people have spoken, and every centavo must go toward strengthening communities, uplifting lives and securing the country’s future development,” he said.
Before the final budget was signed into law, several lawmakers expressed apprehensions regarding some provisions as the final version was only discussed by the chairmen of the Senate Committee on Finance and the House Committee on Appropriations when the bicameral conference was convened.
Members of the Congress specifically raised concerns about the P26 billion funding for the controversial AKAP, the reduction in the budget of the Department of Education and the zero subsidy for the Philippine Health Insurance Corp.
In a press conference in Malacañang, Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin expressed confidence that the signed 2025 budget can withstand legal scrutiny but added that the government cannot stop those who want to challenge the budget.
Bersamin also disclosed that the Office of the President’s budget for 2025 was increased by P5.2 billion as it asked for supplemental funds for the Philippines’ hosting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Summit and Related Summits in 2026.
The executive secretary said the government’s preparations for the Asean in 2026 will begin in 2025.
AKAP
Meanwhile, Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman said the AKAP budget remains but will only be released once the guidelines have been finalized and met by concerned agencies.
“The AKAP is still there. It’s just that, before we release the fund, we need to issue guidelines together with DSWD, DOLE and NEDA so the AKAP cash assistance will be given to the right recipients and avoid repetition,” Pangandaman said in the same Palace briefing.
AKAP provides cash assistance to minimum wage earners and near-poor Filipinos to help tide them over the effects of inflation.
“While the Congress’ version was quite different from the proposed budget that we submitted, we are grateful and relieved that the President has made sure that we do not end up with a reenacted budget,” Pangandaman said.
“As you know, the power of the purse is with the Congress because Congress is supposed to be the voice of the people. Hence, the Department of Budget and Management, and even the President himself, can only submit a proposed budget to Congress and in the end, because we have a democratic process that we must follow and respect, we can only exercise what the Constitution provides, which is to veto certain items of the budget,” she added.
Finance Secretary Ralph Recto said he sees a robust economy next year following the signing of the 2025 national budget.
Recto said that education and capital outlay sector initiatives of the DPWH were prioritized in the approved national outlay.
NEDA Secretary Arsenio Balisacan, who also joined the Palace press briefing, said the 2025 budget supports the goals outlined in the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2023-2028, including attaining the medium-term growth targets as approved by the Development Budget Coordination Committee.
“The budget prioritizes strategic investments and social services with substantial allocations to education, health and social welfare programs, and infrastructure projects to boost growth and inclusion,” Balisacan said.
“These investments are crucial for achieving the PDP’s targets related to human capital development and poverty reduction,” he added.
Senate President Francis Escudero said the country avoided starting the new year on a reenacted budget with the signing of the P6.3-trillion 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA) by the President.
He said that while the signing of the national budget law “took longer than expected,” the thorough review of the proposed 2025 GAA by the President and his economic team was “part of the normal budget process.”
“What is important is that the 2025 GAA was signed before the year ended and the country avoided starting the new year on a reenacted budget,” Escudero said in a statement on Monday.
Sen. Grace Poe said the new budget “rather than a mere reenactment signals an alignment of fiscal priorities, reflecting a unified commitment to driving sustainable national development.”
Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III, in a text message, said he “was hoping for more reduction in programmed appropriations in order to give education the highest budgetary priority.”
In a statement, Poe said the President’s veto of certain items in the 2025 budget measure’s unprogrammed appropriations underscored the “importance of fiscal discipline.”
“As with previous budgets, the executive is right to withhold funds for projects with uncertain funding sources or lacking actionable plans,” said Poe, chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance.
“By removing the standby authority, the veto ensures that government spending is based on solid revenues, not speculative projections,” she said.
The veto on some projects of the Department of Public Works and Highways is a “clear exercise of the President’s authority as the chief architect of our nation’s infrastructure,” she said.
“It reiterates our commitment that every peso be spent only on shovel-ready, high-priority projects,” Poe said.
She said the assurances from both the economic team and the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) board that its surplus funds are sufficient to cover indirect contributors and enhance benefit packages “align with Congress’ view that PhilHealth should first tap into its standby funds before requesting additional subsidies.”
“Overall, I am confident that this year’s budget will not only prevent the misuse of public funds but also ensure that government spending remains responsible, sustainable and in line with our fiscal priorities,” Poe said.
Ako Bicol Rep. Zaldy Co, chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations, lauded the President’s signing of the 2025 budget.
Co expressed gratitude to the President and his fellow lawmakers at the House and Senate for ensuring its timely approval.
“We prioritized the early passage of this measure to prevent a reenacted budget,” Co said. “This underscores our commitment to using the power of the purse and crafting a budget aligned with the administration’s eight-point agenda,” he said.
Co added that the House respects the President’s constitutional prerogative and judgment to veto certain line items in the budget.
“Congress remains committed to working closely with the executive branch,” he said.
