(UPDATE) THE Senate and the House of Representatives on Wednesday approved the reconciled version of the 2025 national budget bill to support the plans and programs of the Marcos administration and moved to ratify it later in the day.
The Palace said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is scheduled to sign the bill into law next week.
“As best as we can, we allocated the government’s scarce resources according to the president’s plan,” said Senate President Francis Escudero in his speech after the bicameral conference committee approved the 2025 general appropriations bill amounting to P6.352 trillion.
BUDGET TALK Speaker Martin Romualdez, Congressman Zaldy Co, Sen. Grace Poe and Senate President Francis Escudero lead the second bicameral conference committee meeting on the disagreeing votes on House Bill 10800, entitled ‘An Act Appropriating Funds for the Operation of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines’ at the Manila Hotel on Dec. 11, 2024. PHOTOS BY RENE H. DILAN
“Our countrymen have given the president a huge mandate to implement his promises, plans and vision for our country,” Escudero said. “[S]o it is only right that as members of Congress, we allow him to do what he promised, to do his vision and plan for the country according to the mandate given to him by the majority of our fellow citizens.”
Escudero said “the president, of all the elected government officials, has the most votes about implementing the mandate in the annual budget, which is only right to be heard and, as far as possible, granted by Congress and the Senate, which is what we have done today and in recent weeks.”
He said both chambers would attempt to ratify the 2025 general appropriations bill on Wednesday afternoon.
“When we opened, both Houses of Congress said that this is the most important bill Congress will pass yearly. That work has been accomplished today and will be completed this afternoon when the proposed annual budget 2025 is ratified,” Escudero said.
The Senate chief said reconciling the different versions of the proposed budget has not been easy.
“This is not a perfect document, and no budget is perfect. A simple zero applies here, meaning we cannot add what we want if we do not reduce or subtract anything. We cannot add if we do not have the resources. This is the main reason why our work on any proposed budget is so difficult,” he said.
The Senate and the House of Representatives did not increase the budget of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) in the approved bicameral committee report, despite some senators’ requests to increase the allocation by P150 million.
Speaker Martin Romualdez, Congressman Zaldy Co, Sen. Grace Poe and Senate President Francis Escudero lead the second bicameral conference committee meeting on the disagreeing votes on House Bill 10800, entitled ‘An Act Appropriating Funds for the Operation of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines’ at the Manila Hotel on Dec. 11, 2024. PHOTOS BY RENE H. DILAN
Speaker Martin Romualdez, Congressman Zaldy Co, Sen. Grace Poe and Senate President Francis Escudero lead the second bicameral conference committee meeting on the disagreeing votes on House Bill 10800, entitled ‘An Act Appropriating Funds for the Operation of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines’ at the Manila Hotel on Dec. 11, 2024. PHOTOS BY RENE H. DILAN
Speaker Martin Romualdez, Congressman Zaldy Co, Sen. Grace Poe and Senate President Francis Escudero lead the second bicameral conference committee meeting on the disagreeing votes on House Bill 10800, entitled ‘An Act Appropriating Funds for the Operation of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines’ at the Manila Hotel on Dec. 11, 2024. PHOTOS BY RENE H. DILAN
Speaker Martin Romualdez, Congressman Zaldy Co, Sen. Grace Poe and Senate President Francis Escudero lead the second bicameral conference committee meeting on the disagreeing votes on House Bill 10800, entitled ‘An Act Appropriating Funds for the Operation of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines’ at the Manila Hotel on Dec. 11, 2024. PHOTOS BY RENE H. DILAN
Speaker Martin Romualdez, Congressman Zaldy Co, Sen. Grace Poe and Senate President Francis Escudero lead the second bicameral conference committee meeting on the disagreeing votes on House Bill 10800, entitled ‘An Act Appropriating Funds for the Operation of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines’ at the Manila Hotel on Dec. 11, 2024. PHOTOS BY RENE H. DILAN
Speaker Martin Romualdez, Congressman Zaldy Co, Sen. Grace Poe and Senate President Francis Escudero lead the second bicameral conference committee meeting on the disagreeing votes on House Bill 10800, entitled ‘An Act Appropriating Funds for the Operation of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines’ at the Manila Hotel on Dec. 11, 2024. PHOTOS BY RENE H. DILAN
Speaker Martin Romualdez, Congressman Zaldy Co, Sen. Grace Poe and Senate President Francis Escudero lead the second bicameral conference committee meeting on the disagreeing votes on House Bill 10800, entitled ‘An Act Appropriating Funds for the Operation of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines’ at the Manila Hotel on Dec. 11, 2024. PHOTOS BY RENE H. DILAN
Speaker Martin Romualdez, Congressman Zaldy Co, Sen. Grace Poe and Senate President Francis Escudero lead the second bicameral conference committee meeting on the disagreeing votes on House Bill 10800, entitled ‘An Act Appropriating Funds for the Operation of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines’ at the Manila Hotel on Dec. 11, 2024. PHOTOS BY RENE H. DILAN
Speaker Martin Romualdez, Congressman Zaldy Co, Sen. Grace Poe and Senate President Francis Escudero lead the second bicameral conference committee meeting on the disagreeing votes on House Bill 10800, entitled ‘An Act Appropriating Funds for the Operation of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines’ at the Manila Hotel on Dec. 11, 2024. PHOTOS BY RENE H. DILAN
Speaker Martin Romualdez, Congressman Zaldy Co, Sen. Grace Poe and Senate President Francis Escudero lead the second bicameral conference committee meeting on the disagreeing votes on House Bill 10800, entitled ‘An Act Appropriating Funds for the Operation of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines’ at the Manila Hotel on Dec. 11, 2024. PHOTOS BY RENE H. DILAN
Speaker Martin Romualdez, Congressman Zaldy Co, Sen. Grace Poe and Senate President Francis Escudero lead the second bicameral conference committee meeting on the disagreeing votes on House Bill 10800, entitled ‘An Act Appropriating Funds for the Operation of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines’ at the Manila Hotel on Dec. 11, 2024. PHOTOS BY RENE H. DILAN
According to Senate Committee on Finance chairman Sen. Grace Poe, the amount approved by the bicameral committee was P733 million, noting that the OVP did not request additional funds until the budget was before the bicameral committee.
Poe added that even though the OVP’s funding was not increased, the office still has the opportunity to help Filipinos, as Vice President Sara Duterte also has a mandate to do this.
She said that the OVP has a P600 million social services allotment that can be used to assist those who come to the vice president’s office.
Poe said lawmakers also agreed to maintain the Ayuda sa Kapos ang Kita Program (AKAP) under the 2025 General Appropriations Bill (GAB).
She said based on the approved bicameral committee report of the P6.352 trillion national budget, AKAP funds have decreased from P39 billion to about P26 billion.
Poe said under AKAP, those receiving assistance must be earning below the minimum wage and affected by inflation.
“AKAP is an anti-inflation measure that aims to keep near-poor families from sliding back to poverty because of unexpected events like sickness, death, or calamity,” Speaker Martin Romualdez said in Filipino and English.
In a media interview after the bicameral meeting, Romualdez said soldiers’ daily subsistence allowance also increased.
“We increased it from P150 to P350; that is going to be maintained and fully supported for our soldiers,” he said.
The increase translates to almost P10,500 per month, he added.
“This is a big step forward in showing our full support for the men and women in uniform. It recognizes their sacrifices and the sacrifices of their families who stand behind them,” he said in a statement.
President Marcos had certified as urgent the passage of House Bill (HB) 10800 or the 2025 GAA, which provides for the proposed P6.352 trillion national budget for next year.
The proposed budget is 9.5 percent higher than this year’s P5.268 trillion.
The Palace said the president was scheduled to sign the budget bill next week.
Presidential Communications Office (PCO) Secretary Cesar Chavez, in a text message, said the chief executive is likely to enact into law the national government’s spending plan for next year on “Dec. 20, 9 a.m.”
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