Marcos calls 2025 budget ‘suboptimal’

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Friday described the signed 2025 budget as suboptimal. 

“The budget as passed… you can describe it as suboptimal, but we are remedying that situation,” Marcos said in an ambush interview. 

“Let me put it simply. Ang ginagawa natin ‘yung mga masyadong nawala sa NEP, sa National Expenditure Program, hindi nabigyan ng pondo ay hinahanapan ng savings,” he added. 

(Let me put it simply. What we are doing is that those who lost too much in the NEP, in the National Expenditure Program, who were not given funds, we are looking for savings.)

Marcos said he has been reviewing the budget of government agencies in the past days so that funds for some projects, which were cut by Congress, can be restored. 

Marcos signed into law the proposed national budget for fiscal year 2025 on December 30, and he directly vetoed over P194 billion worth of line items that are not consistent with his administration's priorities, including some programs of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

In his veto message, Marcos said ''the aim of this Administration in our Medium-Term Fiscal Program is to ensure that government targets will respond more directly to the needs of the Filipino people as strategic growth-enhancing fiscal consolidation is pursued.''