(Let us pray for peace among our leaders for the good of the hopeful Filipino people.)

The sweep of excess funds of PhilHealth and other state-owned firms to give way to Bicam’s illegal insertions for pork barrel via unprogrammed appropriations could lead to rapid uncontrollable hemorrhage of money.

The degradation begins with the Department of Finance (DoF) Circular 003-2024 issued by Secretary Ralph Recto directing government-owned-and-controlled corporations (GOCCs, such as PhilHealth) to remit excess funds back to the treasury.

The finance chief has been saying ever since that his circular was in accordance with the order of Congress that the government can tap excess funds from GOCCs to fund unprogrammed appropriations.

Recto told senators that the Philippines is on track to meet its fiscal program due to robust revenue effort and manageable deficit level during the first half of the year.

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., after signing the P6.326 trillion General Appropriation Act for 2025 into law on 30 December 2024, said in his speech “that the budget reflects our collective commitment to transforming economic gains into meaningful outcomes for every Filipino. It is designed not just to address our present needs, but to sustain growth and uplift the lives of generations that are to come.”

According to the President, the priorities are anchored on the three pillars of the Philippine Development Plan of 2023-2028: Develop and protect the capabilities of individuals and families; transform production sectors to generate more quality jobs and competitive products; and create an enabling environment.

Secretary Recto, on the other hand, said that the P6.326 trillion national budget for 2025 is the government’s most powerful tool to deliver the biggest economic benefits to Filipinos, assuring the Department of Finance’s strong commitment to work doubly hard to mobilize resources to fund it.

President Marcos directly vetoed P194 billion worth of line items, after the exhaustive and thorough review found them not consistent with the programmed priorities.

Secretary Recto reassured the people that the DoF will ensure that the country has enough funds to meet the needs and that every centavo will be spent efficiently on programs and projects that will greatly benefit the people.

Recto said, however, that of the P6.326 trillion national budget for 2025, only P4.94 trillion is supportable by revenue. This translates to a daily government expenditure of P17.33 billion with the Department of Finance leaving the responsibility of generating P2.72 billion daily revenue.

The finance secretary emphasized that the DoF will strive not just to meet but exceed its revenue targets to generate more resources — just as the country’s strong fiscal performance this year has demonstrated.

Total revenue collection for 2024 is expected to reach P4.42 trillion surpassing the full-year of P4.27 trillion. As a percentage of GDP, the merging revenues will climb to 16.7 percent, the highest in the last 27 years.

Emerging tax non-tax revenues for 2024 are expected to reach P606.6 billion — the highest ever recorded.

In sustaining this momentum, Recto stressed that the government will continue to adhere to its medium term fiscal program that reduced our deficit and gradually in a realistic manner, while creating more jobs, increasing income and reducing poverty in the process.