The bicameral conference committee approved on Wednesday the reconciled version of the proposed P6.352-trillion 2025 General Appropriations Bill (GAB).

This came after members of both houses resolved the disagreements over various provisions, ahead of Congress’ adjournment for the Christmas break on 18 December.

Senator Grace Poe, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Finance, said the final General Appropriations Bill (GAB) will not include an addition to the budget of the Office of the Vice President (OVP).

“It is still the same — the budget we passed in the Senate was the same budget approved by the House of Representatives. It’s about P733 million,” Poe told reporters in an interview after the bicam.

One of the contentious issues surrounding the GAB was whether additional funding would be allocated to the OVP.

To recall, the Senate approved its version of the GAB, in which the P1.3-billion cut from the budget for the OVP was retained despite the attempts of some senators to restore it.

According to Poe, Vice President Sara Duterte’s office would still be “capacitated” to implement its social services with its P733-million allocation in the bicam-approved 2025 GAB, though this was far from its original proposed budget of P2.037 billion.

“Of course, this is a collegial body. Each of us has a wish list that we want approved, but in the end the majority will still decide,” she said.

Poe noted that the OVP will still be able to effectively carry out its social services.

“I explained to them that the OVP still has an opportunity to help. They have a social services allotment of P600 million that they can use. They weren’t left without anything. What I’ve been saying from the start is that they are still capacitated,” she said.

Zero subsidy for PhilHealth

Meanwhile, Poe confirmed that the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) will not receive any government subsidies under the 2025 GAB.

According to Poe, the state-run health insurer was not given a government subsidy due to its low utilization of funds despite having a huge fund reserve, which she said amounted to at least P600 billion.

“They need to use their reserve funds first because, as you can see, many people are upset after not receiving proper reimbursements, and the reimbursements aren’t being processed quickly,” she said.

Hontiveros, Go raise concerns

PhilHealth was supposed to receive a P74-billion subsidy from the government under the 2025 National Expenditure Program.

The move was questioned by Senate Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros and Senator Christopher “Bong” Go, who refused to sign the bicam-approved GAB.

Citing the pending review and consultation with Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, Hontiveros lamented the non-allocation of funds for PhilHealth, stressing that it is equivalent to denying Filipinos their right to health.

“It is the government’s obligation to pay the premiums of indirect contributors, including the poor, senior citizens and PWDs (persons with disability). If the government abandons this, it will fall on ordinary citizens who have monthly deductions from PhilHealth,” she said.

“That’s why this ‘zero-subsidy’ is unfair, illegal, and potentially unconstitutional. What will happen to our fellow citizens who cannot afford to pay their premium contributions? This is a huge blow to our goal of achieving universal healthcare in the country,” she said.

Under existing laws, Hontiveros said the state-run health insurer must still receive funding from the government.

Go, on the other hand, raised concerns over certain provisions.

As vice chair of the Senate Committee on Finance and chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Go emphasized the need for a thorough review before making any decisions. He echoed Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa’s call for closer scrutiny, particularly regarding cuts to the proposed budget for PhilHealth.

Go noted that he is still reviewing the bicam report, which was only presented earlier that morning. He expressed strong reservations about the reported removal of funding for PhilHealth, asserting that he would raise these concerns during the Senate ratification process.

AKAP funding restored

Meanwhile, the funding for the controversial Ayuda para sa Kapos ang Kita Program, or AKAP, of the Department of Social Welfare and Development, which was earlier defunded by the Senate was approved in the final GAB version.

According to Poe, the House-initiated AKAP would, however, receive P26 billion instead of P39 billion.

“There was a discussion about that. We know that AKAP is an initiative of the House. So when it comes to matters like that, they explained why this is a way that can better help our fellow citizens. We listened to them and accommodated it,” she said.

“However, we agreed to lower the budget for AKAP. So, from the initial amount they requested of P39 billion, we managed to reduce it to P26 billion,” she added.

Poe said that members of the bicam agreed to establish “clearer” guidelines for identifying the beneficiaries of the social amelioration program.

“It is intended as assistance for minimum wage earners who are affected by current situations or by inflation. So now it’s clearer that it is specifically for minimum wage earners and below,” she said.

She also confirmed that senators can now access the AKAP through an “arrangement” with their counterparts in the lower house, as stated earlier by Speaker Martin Romualdez.

Poe said senators are set to receive P5 billion from the P26 billion AKAP funding, with the remaining P21 billion allocated to members of the House of Representatives.

Education budget cuts

Meanwhile, Senator Win Gatchalian disclosed that the Senate-initiated additional P3-billion budget for the government’s free higher education program did not materialize in the final GAB.

“For example, the free higher education for state universities and colleges — we recommended P3 billion since there was a P3 billion deficiency,” Gatchalian said in a separate interview.

He added: “It didn’t make it through, but I understand the explanation of the Senate President, who said they tried their best to source it because, when you transfer a budget, you have to take it from another agency.”

Gatchalian also noted that the bicam decided to slash the proposed budgets of the Department of Education and the Commission on Higher Education, by P12 billion and more than P30 billion, respectively.