MANILA – President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. vetoed over P194 billion worth of line items from the national budget for fiscal year 2025.
In a speech at Malacañang Palace on Monday, President Marcos said the vetoed portions of the budget are not consistent with his administration’s program priorities.
“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,” Marcos said.
The vetoed items included allocations for certain programs and projects of the Department of Public Works and Highways, and those under the Unprogrammed Appropriations, which increased by 300 percent.
However, to ensure that government assistance is not merely a provisional solution to a persistent issue, Marcos said he is compelled to subject the implementation of the Ayuda sa Kapos ang Kita Program (AKAP) to the convergence efforts of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), and National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).
“In the exercise of our budget execution function and our duty to ensure prudent fiscal management, we ensure that all increases in appropriations and new budgetary items shall now be subject to cash programming; applicable budget execution rules; and vetting and approval of the concerned offices. This way, we guarantee that these programs and projects are implementable and will redound to the benefit of our people,” Marcos said.
“Sa sambayanang Pilipino, nakikinig po kami sa inyo. Salamat po sa inyong pagkilatis sa ating national budget at sa pagpuna sa kaibahan ng isinumite ng Kongreso sa President’s proposed budget. Kaya naman po kahit Pasko, kaming lahat ay nagtrabaho upang pag-aralan ito,” he added.
Last week, Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin said certain items and provisions of the national budget bill would be vetoed by the President “in the interest of public welfare, to conform with the fiscal program, and in compliance with laws.”
Several lawmakers earlier expressed apprehension as regards some provisions of the 2025 General Appropriation Bill as its final version was only discussed by the chairpersons of the Senate Committee on Finance and the House Committee on Appropriations when the bicameral conference was convened./PN
