MANILA – President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. urged various government agencies for a “conscientious utilization” of their respective budgets for 2025.
The Chief Executive made the statement after vetoing P194 billion in line items from the 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA) that he deemed inconsistent with his administration’s priorities.
“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.”
The President emphasized 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,” President Marcos said.
Marcos also mentioned 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, P26.065 billion were projects under the Department of Public Works and Highways, and P168.240 billion were allocated to unprogrammed appropriations.
President Marcos also subjected a number of programs, including the controversial Ayuda Para sa Kapos Ang Kita Program, to “conditional implementation” under the 2025 GAA./PN
