Marcos meets with DND for budget review

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Tuesday met with Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Gilbert Teodoro Jr. to discuss the results of the agency’s budget review.

Present during the meeting were Finance Secretary Ralph Recto, Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman, and Presidential Communications Office Acting Secretary Cesar Chavez.

Special Assistant to the President for Investment and Economic Affairs Frederick Go and other government officials were also present in the meeting.

Marcos has been reviewing the budget of government agencies in the past weeks 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, 2024, 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.''

—VAL, GMA Integrated News