Imee slams upcoming signing of 2025 budget
Metro Manila, Philippines – Senator Imee Marcos criticized the impending signing of the 2025 national budget by her brother, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., amid numerous concerns about the ₱6.532-trillion spending plan.
“Like a thief on the night before new year! hahaha,” Marcos said in a text message shared with reporters on Tuesday, Dec. 24.
She earlier disclosed an advisory from the Presidential Legislative Liaison Office regarding the ceremonial signing of the 2025 General Appropriations Act, scheduled for Monday, Dec. 30, in Malacañang.
The Palace confirmed the schedule. It said the plan is to approve the budget before the year ends to avoid a reenacted budget, which would require using the 2024 spending plan. It added that the chief executive will veto or remove certain line items from the General Appropriations Bill endorsed by Congress.
Senator Marcos said that under this plan, the President should cut at least ₱188 billion from the ₱1.1 trillion budget allocated to the Department of Public Works and Highways to ensure it does not surpass the budget for the education sector. The Constitution mandates that education must receive the highest budgetary priority from the government.
“So there may be at least 188 billion worth of rewards sa (in the) unprogrammed appropriations for the old ye faithful,” Senator Marcos said.
The presidential sister noted that these unprogrammed funds can only be released if the government generates excess income or new funding sources.
“If the President does line-item veto, they cannot use the appro[priations] of the items vetoed to fund or augment other items in the budget. They will have less projects to fund which may translate to a deficit lower than what was originally programmed,” she added.
She said this may be a good or bad thing, “depending on who’s counting.”
Senator Marcos has been vocal about her criticisms of the procedural, legal, and constitutional violations in the 2025 budget. She has repeatedly urged her brother to return it to Congress for lawmakers to address the issues, rather than acting on it himself.
