House members vow P6.2T GAA passage

House members vow P6.2T GAA passage | Daily Tribune

The Marcos administration's proposed spending plan for 2025, exceeding P6 trillion, will be the primary focus of the House of Representatives when sessions resume on 22 July during President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s third State of the Nation Address (SoNA).

House members said they are prepared to work extended hours to ensure the timely approval of the record-high P6.2 trillion budget for the upcoming fiscal year. Speaker Martin Romualdez described the budget as the "heaviest and biggest legislation" that Congress will pass.

The proposed budget for 2025 represents a 7.5 percent increase or P432.4 billion more than this year's General Appropriations Act (GAA) allocation of P5.768 trillion, the largest ever approved by Congress.

According to the Constitution, the President has 30 days from the opening of each regular session to submit his budget proposal to the legislative body.

The government's P6.2 trillion expenditure program represents 21.4 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) and will focus on delivering "high-impact and transformative public infrastructure projects and essential social services," said National Economic and Development Authority Secretary Arsenio Balisacan.

Balisacan emphasized that the budget would support Marcos' Build Better More Program, maintaining infrastructure spending between 5 percent to 6 percent of GDP from 2024 through 2028.

Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman, who chairs the Development Budget Coordination Committee, highlighted the budget’s role in accelerating inclusivity programs, providing more targeted social services, and developing regions, particularly the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Government agencies submitted their budget requests to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) by April 30, and these requests were reviewed by the agency's Preliminary Executive Review Board.

The DBM will finalize the budget under the National Expenditure Plan and Budget of Expenditures and Sources of Financing, which will be presented to President Marcos and his Cabinet members for approval.