Senate nudged for ‘immediate’ enactment of 2025 budget

PHILIPPINE President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. has certified the proposed P6.352-trillion national budget for 2025 as urgent as the Senate wraps up plenary debates on the spending plan this week.

In a letter addressed to Senate President Francis G. Escudero, dated Oct. 29, the President cited the “necessity of the immediate enactment” of House Bill No. 10800, the 2025 General Appropriations Act to ensure “uninterrupted operation” of government functions.

Approving the budget would also ensure vital government projects get proper funding next year and allow the government to “adeptly respond to emerging challenges,” according to a copy of the letter sent to reporters via Viber by Mr. Escudero’s office on Tuesday.

The certification allows Congress to do away with the mandated three-day interval between bill readings. The President had issued a similar certification to House Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez to speed up passage of the budget bill.

The House approved the 2025 general appropriations bill in September. It was transmitted to the Senate on Oct. 25.

Senators are in the middle of scrutinizing the spending plans of government agencies before they propose amendments on the floor.  The Senate aims to approve the national budget by the second of December at the latest, in time to submit it to the Palace before Congress goes on break on Dec. 21.

Senator Mary Grace Natividad S. Poe-Llamanzares, who chairs the finance committee, told reporters in a Viber message that the national budget will not be tackled on second reading immediately after plenary debates conclude.

“Today is the last day of the budget debates according to the agreed schedule,” Ms. Poe-Llamanzares said.

“But it won’t go to (seco)nd reading immediately as we need to give time to the senators to prepare their amendments based on the plenary debates.”

Under the 2025 National Expenditure Program (NEP), the Budget department slashed the proposed budgets for agriculture, health, and social welfare sectors by 4.7%, 7.6%, and 3.4%, respectively.

The Senate’s committee report on the budget bill increased the total proposed budget of the Department of Health and its attached agencies next year to P277.996 billion from the P217.388 billion proposed by the Executive branch. This is a nearly 28% increase from the NEP.

Ms. Poe-Llamanzares earlier told the Senate floor that her colleagues would focus on ensuring additional funding for health, education, and livelihood. She also said defense agencies would get budget hikes next year. — John Victor D. Ordoñez