December 23, 2024 | 2:20pm
MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is still reviewing the national budget together with his cabinet secretaries; however, there are no talks of a reenacted budget, according to the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) on Monday, December 23.
Following Malacañang’s announcement that certain provisions of the controversial 2025 budget will be vetoed, Marcos has been meeting with the country’s economic managers to discuss the budget.
In a comment to reporters, PCO Secretary Cesar Chavez said that there have been no talks yet if the budget will be reenacted.
“In the past two meetings that I attended with them, there was never [a] discussion on that,” Chavez said.
A reenacted budget means that if Congress fails to pass a new budget by the end of 2024, the 2024 budget will remain in effect until the 2025 budget is approved.
Should this occur, it would be the first time the Marcos administration operates under a reenacted budget.
Marcos signed both the 2023 and 2024 budgets well before Christmas, signing them consecutively on December 16 and 20.
During the third year of his term, former president Rodrigo Duterte signed the 2019 budget in the same year — in April. The delay was caused by accusations that lawmakers had pork insertions in the bill, as well as last-minute amendments after the bicam ratified the budget.
The Palace has not provided a definite date for when Marcos will sign the budget, but it is determined to do so before the year ends.
In a photo release from the PCO, Marcos could be seen together with Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, Department of Budget and Management Secretary Amehan Pangandaman, Department of Finance Secretary Ralph Recto, Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Manuel Bonoan and National Economic and Development Authority Secretary Arsenio Balisacan.
“The printed copy of the spending measure was only received late Friday afternoon. President Marcos Jr. hopes to act on the measure before the year ends,” the PCO said.
The 2025 budget has been at the center of a whirlwind of controversies, including the complete removal of PhilHealth’s subsidy and the ballooning of the DPWH’s budget, amid cuts to the Department of Education and the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
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