Recto: Marcos withheld release of at least P60B worth of funds under 2025 budget

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. withheld the release of P60 billion to P80 billion worth of funds under the then proposed P6.352 trillion national budget for 2025, Finance Secretary Ralph Recto said Monday.

This is because the allocation funded budget items which were not aligned with the administration’s priorities, he said.

Recto made the disclosure during the questioning of Caloocan City Representative Edgar Erice who asked the economic team, which includes Recto, how the administration dealt with the fact that P375 billion worth of programmed, meaning funded budget items under the proposed 2025 budget of the Executive was cut by Congress and placed under the unprogrammed fund.

An unprogrammed fund is for budget items whose funding are dependent on tax collection exceeding targets and other special laws.

“Mr. Speaker, there is a saying, the Executive proposes [the budget], Congress disposes of the budget, and the Executive implements the budget. Having said that, the President, in his wisdom, his first response was to veto a few portions in the [2025] budget,” Recto said during the first day of the briefing on the proposed P6.793 trillion budget for 2026 which is scheduled to be filed as the General Appropriations Bill on September 1.

Recto was referring to the P26 billion worth of budget items in the 2025 Congress-approved budget that the President vetoed, meaning removed from the budget. 

“Now, during the time of implementation of the budget, the President decided not to release their appropriations. And why is that? Because it may not be consistent with the Philippine Development Plan of his administration. At any given time, during budget execution, the President can withhold releases of the budget if it is not consistent with the priorities of his administration. And as of today, based on my understanding, roughly P60 to P80 billion has still been withheld [by the President],” Recto added.

Erice then pointed out that the P26 billion budget items that the President rejected in the 2025 budget was still too small compared with the P375 billion realigned by Congress to unprogrammed fund, but Recto assured the opposition lawmaker that the President will ensure that government spending will be based on merit, not a whim.

“If the President sees, for example, that there are double entries in a particular project, he's not bound to release this appropriation,” Recto said.

In addition, Recto said that Erice’s question on the realignment of P375 billion worth of budget items is a question best answered by Congress. —KG, GMA Integrated News