The proposed 2027 National Expenditure Program initially reached P11 trillion before President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered cuts to prioritize key projects, Palace press officer Claire Castro said Thursday.

“According to the DBM, the real supposed-to-be budget is P11 trillion. But President Marcos ordered that those that should be prioritized should be prioritized; that is why it went down to P7.2 trillion,” Castro said, referring to the Department of Budget and Management.

She made the disclosure while rejecting ACT Teachers party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio’s criticism that the proposed budget was anti-poor, citing reduced social service allocations alongside higher funding for defense, infrastructure and anti-insurgency programs.

Castro also explained proposed cuts to the University of the Philippines System and Philippine General Hospital. UP’s allocation would fall by P2.95 billion to P26.53 billion, while PGH faces an P805-million reduction.

She said the reductions reflected the completion of projects funded in 2026.

The proposed P7.2-trillion budget is 6 percent higher than the 2026 budget, with P2.456 trillion allocated for social services and P1.833 trillion for economic services.

Infrastructure spending under Build Better More is proposed at P1.467 trillion, while the consolidated health budget is P1.06 trillion.