The national budget approved by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. is true to the Philippine constitution, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) clarified on Monday.
DBM Secretary Amenah Pangandaman stressed the constitutionality of the newly-approved budget amid questions raised over some vetoed provisions of the General Appropriations Act (GAA) for 2025.
The budget, initially amounting to PhP6.352 trillion, was reduced to PhP6.326 trillion following the veto of PhP194 billion worth of line items deemed “inconsistent with the administration’s priority programs.”
Of the vetoed PhP194-billion, President Marcos directly vetoed PhP26.065 billion worth of projects under the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and PhP168.240 billion allocated under “Unprogrammed Appropriations.”
In his speech during the signing of the GAA, the President mentioned calls to veto the entire budget and revert to a reenacted one. “However, this is not an option we can afford,” he said.
According to the President, “a reenacted budget would set us back, delay our vital programs and jeopardize our targets for economic growth, including our goals of achieving single-digit poverty levels, and upper-middle-income status.”
Pangandaman said that while the power of the purse is with Congress, the Executive Department can veto certain items in the proposed budget as allowed by the Constitution.
“The President ensured that the budget remained true to our constitutional mandates while exercising his veto power to ensure that the budget ultimately continues to be directed to meeting our agenda for prosperity,” she explained.
The DBM chief expressed gratitude to the President for thoroughly scrutinizing the national budget to arrive at a sound decision.
“We would like to thank our President, President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. for personally being on top of reviewing the bicameral committee’s version of the budget,” Pangandaman said.
“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,” she added. (PND)
