lucky pot Marcos calls 2025 budget sub-optimal, looks for savings to fund projects

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. (center) convenes a meeting with cabinet members in Malacañang on Wednesday, December 18, 2024 to review the 2025 then-proposed national budget. (File photo courtesy of PCO)

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. called the 2025 national budget “sub-optimal,” saying they are looking for ways to fund projects from the 2025 National Expenditure Program (NEP) that currently lack allocations.

In an ambush interview in Leyte on Friday, Marcos was asked if his administration is dealing with a “less than ideal budget” for this year.

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“Well, I… perhaps the budget as it was passed, you could describe it as sub-optimal. But we are remedying that situation,” he responded.

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“Let me put it simply, ang ginagawa natin ay ‘yung mga masyadong nawala sa NEP, sa National Expenditure Program, na hindi na nabigyan ng pondo ay hinahanapan namin ng mga savings para maibalik ang mga pondong ‘yan… kagaya sa edukasyon, kagaya sa health, kagaya sa—kagaya ‘yang mga pabahay,” Marcos said.

(Let me put it simply, what we’re doing is looking for savings to bring back the funds that were lost in the NEP, the National Expenditure Program, which were not allocated… like in education, health and also housing.)

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READ: Marcos wants ample budget for key DepEd projects amid cuts

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In a meeting with officials from the Department of Education (DepEd) on Thursday, Marcos said the government must be able to show that education remains the government’s top priority despite budget cuts on some of its projects.

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Congress approved P737 billion of the P748 billion proposed budget of DepEd for 2025.

The slashed allocations were intended to create new school personnel positions and implement the DepEd Computerization Program and the Basic Education Facilities Fund.

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READ: Marcos aims to recover budget for foreign-aided projects of DPWH

In the same forum, Marcos expressed intention to recover funds for foreign-assisted projects of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

“Because we asked for P70 billion and they (lawmakers) gave us P23 billion,” the president said as quoted in a press release from the Presidential Communications Office.

Budget reductions in the DPWH included payments of right-of-way; contractual obligations, value-added tax and other taxes.

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The cuts also covered pre-feasibility study, feasibility study and primary and detailed engineering, public-private partnership strategic support fund, and KAlsada TUngo sa PAliparan, Riles at DaungAN or KATUPARAN program.

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In its latest report on fiscal policy, the IMF said it expects global public debt to hit 93 percent of global gross domestic product (GDP) this yearlucky pot, and to approach 100 percent of GDP by 2030 – 10 percentage points higher than in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic hit.