"Filipinos first!"

This was how President Marcos summarized the proposed 2025 National Expenditure Program (NEP), saying it aims to create jobs, tackle rising prices, and reduce poverty.

Marcos said this as he approved the proposed P6.352-trillion national budget on Tuesday, July 2.

In an Instagram post late Tuesday, the President said the proposed budget is aimed at investing in "what matters most."

"Filipinos first!" he wrote.

"With our approved 2025 budget, we're investing in what matters most — creating jobs, strengthening healthcare, and expanding infrastructure," he said.

According to Marcos, the 2025 NEP is set to generate jobs, enhance healthcare, expand housing, and strengthen infrastructure, fueling economic growth across the country.

"Our goal is to tackle rising prices and reduce poverty, ensuring every Filipino benefits from our growing economy," he said.

According to Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman, the government has recalibrated its fiscal targets, adopting a pragmatic strategy to promote growth-enhancing fiscal consolidation.

She said revenues and expenditures are projected to rise annually by an average of 10.3 percent and 21 percent, respectively, from 2024 to 2028.

Infrastructure spending will be maintained at five to six percent of gross domestic product (GDP), focusing on sustainable deficit reduction.

Pangandaman said the fiscal targets and budget allocations are anticipated to free up resources for infrastructure development and other growth-promoting programs.

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) initially received a total budget proposal of P9.2 trillion. However, the approved budget ceiling is set at P6.3 trillion as approved by the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC), reflecting limited fiscal space and considerations such as program readiness, agencies’ absorption capacity, and alignment with expenditure directions.

The Total Expenditure Program is divided into four expense classes:

• Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE): P2,424.1 billion
• Personnel Services expenditures: P1.787 billion
• Capital Expenditures: P1,292.6 billion
• Financial Expenses: P848.1 billion

According to the DMB, P4,247 billion will be appropriated for government programs already authorized under existing laws. Meanwhile, 2.1 percent of the proposed budget will be allocated under unprogrammed appropriations as standby funds that can only be released when certain conditions are met.

The top 10 of the proposed FY 2025 Total Expenditure Program are in:

1. Education
2. Public Works
3. Health (including PhilHealth)
4. Interior and Local Government
5. Defense
6. Social Welfare
7. Agriculture
8. Transportation
9. Judiciary
10. Justice

The DBM is set to submit the proposed FY 2025 National Expenditure Program to the House of Representatives on July 29, 2024.