Marcos eyes signing 2025 national budget before year ends

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. said Thursday the proposed 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA), which contains the P6.352 trillion national budget plan next year, may be signed into law before the end of the year.

“We had to have a look because maraming nagbago from the budget request of the different departments and we have to put it back in the same shape that we had first requested,” Marcos told reporters. 

“We are going through item by item, line by line, to see what is priority and what is not,” he added. 

On Wednesday, Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin said the December 20 schedule for the signing of the national budget 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 also said the President is consulting with the heads of major departments in an "ongoing assessment."

“I want to be very, very sure that the budget for 2025 is directed at the important projects that we have prioritized, number one. And secondly, that there is a stronger safeguards on spending for the different projects,” said Marcos. 

“Kailangan maging maingat na maingat tayo kasi 'yung ginagastos dyan, hindi naman karamihan, pero meron dyan utang 'yan. Kaya’t kailangan mapunta sa tama para mabayaran natin 'yung utang, makabawi naman tayo dun sa ginastos natin dun sa inutang natin. And that’s what we are trying to clarify now,” he said. 

(We need to be very careful because a lot of the money being spent is actually from loan. So, it’s important that it goes to the right places so we can pay off that loan and recover what we spent. And that’s what we’re trying to clarify now.)

The Congress earlier ratified the bicameral conference committee report on GAB, which retained the P733 million budget of the Office of the Vice President; reduced the budget of the Department of Education by P10 billion; and allocated P26 billion for the Ayuda para sa Kapos and Kita Program (AKAP).

Marcos' sister, Senator Imee Marcos, and Senator Juan Miguel "Migz" Zubiri previously proposed the return of the ratified 2025 budget bill to Congress. They said that the President had the option to request the bicam to make revisions.

However, Marcos Jr. said it was not part of the procedure. 

“There is no procedure to return it to the bicam. It’s finished in Congress. So it’s up to us now to look at the items and to see what are appropriate, what are relevant, and what are the priorities,” he  added.

Asked if the budget will be signed on December 31, 2024, Marcos said: “I think we’ll be able to do it before the year ends.”—Sundy Locus/AOL, GMA Integrated News