President Marcos on Tuesday, Dec. 31, said he vetoed some line items in the proposed P6.3-trillion budget for 2025 as he said he does not want to compromise the future and needs to prioritize fiscal sustainability.
In his explanation to Senate President Chiz Escudero and House Speaker Martin Romualdez, Marcos said he vetoed over P194 billion worth of line items in the proposed budget because "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."
"We must be clearly driven by this goal because much as we want to do everything we wish for our people immediately and al at the same time, our finite resources compel us to exercise sound judgment to ensure our fiscal sustainability—we must not compromise our future, thus, the imperative need to program our priorities," he added.
Marcos on Monday, Dec. 30, signed the 2025 national budget worth P6.326 trillion. It was reduced from P6.352 trillion after vetoing P194 billion-worth of programs under the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWD) and those under Unprogrammed Appropriations.
The President said he vetoed items from the DPWH budget because the projects listed there—most of which were drainage-related projects—were not consistent with the government's priorities in terms of urgency, implementation-readiness and agency absorptive capacity.
He also said he vetoed items from the Unprogrammed Appropriations because while it serves as standby authority to incur additional agency obligations for priority programs and projects, the expenditures should generally be within the parameters of programmed resources as envisioned by the fiscal planners.
Marcos then urged the congressional leaders "to ensure that the people's funds are utilized in accordance with their authorized purposes, and that the programs, projects, and activities are implemented in compliance with laws, policies, rules, and regulations."
"The prudent stewardship of public funds is a mere rhetoric if the same is not translated into effective and responsive public services," he said as he called for strict adherence to laws and regulations in the implementation of the programs under the 2025 budget.
'Use budget conscientiously'
The President also called on the "conscientious utilization" of the budget with the end in mind of sustaining the country's high-growth trajectory and managing inflation.
It must also be born on mind accelerating the implementation of well-targeted social services and structural reforms geared towards achieving our medium-term goals of reducing poverty incidence, decreasing unemployment rates, and achieving upper middle-income status.
He said the national budget is the result of the liberal exercise of the Congress' power of the purse, "even as we seek to ensure that the goals set in our PDP (Philippine Development Plan) 2023-2028 continue to be met amidst our limited fiscal space."
"While the final version of the National Budget has significant distinctions from the President's proposed Budget, we remain determined to pursue the continued implementation and innovation of reforms in public financial management, procurement, and digitalization through a whole-of-government and a whole-of-society approach for a more efficient and transparent public service," he said.
Marcos said that while the government has attained much thus far, there is still a long way to go in achieving a truly inclusive, sustainable and future-proof economy.
"Inspired by the citizens we serve, let us leverage the FY 2025 National Budget to advance undeterred, focused on the mission to propel our economic and social transformation and meet our goal of a Bagong Pilipinas where the needs and aspirations of every Filipino are fulfilled," he added.