House Deputy Minority Leader France Castro and former ACT Teachers Representative Antonio Tinio on Tuesday, December 31, denounced the signing of what they perceived to be a “deceptive” version of the P 6.3-trillion national budget for 2025.
Both lawmakers said President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s veto message on next year’s appropriation is merely “pure deception” to create an illusion of constitutional compliance while maintaining cuts to the education budget.
“This veto message is pure deception. Ang pag-veto ng P194 billion sa DPWH projects ay panlilinlang lamang para magmukhang constitutional ang budget dahil mas malaki raw ang education sector. Pero ang katotohanan, hindi naman maibabalik ang mga binawas sa edukasyon (The veto on the P194 billion worth on the Department of Public Works and Highways’ projects is just a deception to make the budget appear constitutional because they claim that the education sector should receive higher allocation. But the reality is they can no longer restore what was slashed from the education budget),” Castro said.
The 2025 national budget signed that Marcos signed on Monday was reduced from P 6.352-trillion to P6.326 after he vetoed P194-billion worth of line items deemed inconsistent with his administration’s programs.
The signing of the 2025 budget was originally scheduled before Christmas but was deferred to allow for a more extensive review of the budget’s provisions following criticisms on some particular items.
But Tinio pointed out that the vetoed items were strategically chosen to maintain an appearance of education prioritization while keeping massive funding for infrastructure and military projects intact.
"Ito'y malaking pagbabalatkayo (This is a big disguise). The administration is trying to fool the public by vetoing certain DPWH projects while keeping the deep cuts to essential education programs.
“Hindi mababago ng veto na ito ang anti-education at anti-poor character ng (This veto will not change the anti-education and anti-poor character of the) 2025 budget,” Tinio said.
Castro said the education budget remains severely inadequate despite the vetoes.
“The education budget should have been set at six percent of GDP (gross domestic product) from the start to meet UN standards. Instead, binawasan pa ito ng Kongreso, at hindi na ito maibabalik kahit anong veto pa ang gawin ni Marcos (Congress reduced it, and this could no longer be restored no matter what veto Marcos does),” she said.
She further lamented that next year’s appropriation and the vetoes merely reveal the Marcos administration’s true priorities and that is maintaining the huge allocations for infrastructure and military spending while shortchanging education.
“We call on the public to see through this deception. Huwag tayong magpapaloko sa ganitong style ng administrasyon,” she said.
“What our education sector needs is genuine prioritization, not political theatrics,” she reiterated.