By ADRIAN STEWART CO
MANILA – President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. eyes to sign the proposed 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA), which contains the P6.352 trillion national budget plan, before the end of the year.
According to the Chief Executive, his office is still carefully scrutinizing the budget since the members of the Congress made several changes.
“We had to have a look because maraming nagbago from the budget request of the different departments and we have to put it back in the same shape that we had first requested,” Marcos said. “We are going through item by item, line by line, to see what is priority and what is not.”
“I want to be very, very sure that the budget for 2025 is directed at the important projects that we have prioritized, number one. And secondly, that there is a stronger safeguards on spending for the different projects,” he added.
“Kailangan maging maingat na maingat tayo kasi ‘yung ginagastos dyan, hindi naman karamihan, pero meron dyan utang ‘yan. Kaya’t kailangan mapunta sa tama para mabayaran natin ‘yung utang, makabawi naman tayo dun sa ginastos natin dun sa inutang natin. And that’s what we are trying to clarify now,” the President further said.
The Congress earlier ratified the 2025 national budget, which retained the P733 million budget of the Office of the Vice President; reduced the budget of the Department of Education by P10 billion; and allocated P26 billion for the Ayuda para sa Kapos and Kita Program (AKAP).
Meanwhile, President Marcos has ruled out returning the budget bill to the Congress to make revisions.
“There is no procedure to return it to the bicam. It’s finished in Congress. So it’s up to us now to look at the items and to see what are appropriate, what are relevant, and what are the priorities,” Marcos said. “I think we’ll be able to do it before the year ends.”/PN
