President Marcos is set to veto certain provisions of the 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA) in the interest of public welfare, Malacañang announced early Wednesday morning, Dec. 18.

This development came following budget cuts in the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth).

"We can now confirm that certain items and provisions of the national budget bill will be vetoed in the interest of public welfare, to conform with the fiscal program, and in compliance with laws," Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin said in a statement.

According to Bersamin, the scheduled signing of the proposed P6.352-trillion 2025 national budget on Friday, Dec. 20, is postponed to give way to a review led by Marcos himself.

"The scheduled signing of the General Appropriations Act on December 20 will not push through to allow more time for a rigorous and exhaustive review of a measure that will determine the course of the nation for the next year," he said.

"The ongoing assessment is being led by the President himself, in consultation with the heads of major departments," he added, noting that there is no new date for the signing yet.

On Wednesday afternoon, President Marcos met with Bersamin, Department of Finance (DOF) Secretary Ralph Recto, Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Amenah Pangandaman, Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Manuel Bonoan, and National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Arsenio Balisacan to review the 2025 national budget, ensuring alignment with key development priorities.

Early this week, President Marcos defended the significant increase in the proposed budget of the DPWH, saying the government must spend for the safety of the people. The proposed DPWH budget has bloated to P1.113 trillion from the initial P900 billion after the bicameral conference committee meeting.

"But public works is still going to be one of the top recipients of budget because marami na tayong ginagawa (we are doing many things)," Marcos said.

"We have big projects that we have to put in place. Infrastructure is important. And don't forget flood control became such a big, big part of the work of the DPWH," he added.

On the other hand, the President said they are working to restore the P10-billion cut in the proposed budget for the DepEd. He said the budget cut contradicted his administration's policy direction regarding Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM).

"I think we'll still be able to do it, to be able to do something. Maybe this is the first thing, hindi pa buo ang sagot ko pero sasabihin ko na sa inyo, tinatrabaho namin 'yan (my answer is not complete yet but I will say now that we are working on it)," Marcos said.

"You know, P12-billion request, the original request of the P12 billion to be reduced down to two. P12 billion is only sufficient to maintain what we're already doing when in fact we have to do more. So yun na nga, we have to figure that out. But we are," he added.

Despite this, President Marcos said he will strive to sign the 2025 GAA before Christmas.