MANILA – President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. characterized the approved 2025 national budget as “suboptimal” or less than ideal.
According to the Chief Executive, his office is taking steps to address areas that experienced significant reductions in the National Expenditure Program (NEP).
“The budget as passed… you can describe it as suboptimal, but we are remedying that situation,” Marcos said in an ambush interview on Friday afternoon.
“Let me put it simply. Ang ginagawa natin ‘yung mga masyadong nawala sa NEP, sa National Expenditure Program, hindi nabigyan ng pondo ay hinahanapan ng savings,” he added.
President Marcos has been examining the budgets of various government agencies in recent days to restore funding for certain projects that Congress had previously cut.
He signed into law the proposed national budget for fiscal year 2025 on December 30, 2024 and he directly vetoed over P194 billion worth of line items that are not consistent with his administration’s priorities.
In his veto message, Marcos said “’the aim of this Administration in our Medium-Term Fiscal Program is to ensure that government targets will respond more directly to the needs of the Filipino people as strategic growth-enhancing fiscal consolidation is pursued.’”/PN
