MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed the 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA) on the second-to-last day of 2024, but not without contention.
The 2025 budget saw winners and losers, with some national government agencies receiving large gains while others suffered cuts. Marcos has ordered his Cabinet officials to reexamine which programs should be prioritized following the budget cuts.
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When comparing the proposed budget to the approved one, some of the most notable cuts were seen in agencies like the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth), the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and the Office of the Vice President (OVP).
In January, the president has met with different secretaries as they have gone over their new budget.
Here are several ways the executive branch is coping:
Department of Transportation
Compared to the National Expenditure Program (NEP), the approved DOTr budget is only around half of what was originally proposed. The NEP moved for the DOTR to have P180.89 billion, but the 2025 GAA only carved out P89.83 billion for it.
The DOTR is tasked with completing big-ticket projects such as the country’s railways and bus transit systems, such as the North–South Commuter Railway.
DOTR Secretary Jaime Bautista said the budget cuts had a “very minor effect” since much of their projects can be funded by loan proceeds. Many of the country’s major transportation infrastructure is funded by loans from foreign entities such as the Japan International Cooperation Agency.
Several items under the unprogrammed funds were also allotted to DOTr items.
Department of Tourism
The DOT lamented a P400 million cut to its marketing budget, following the controversial "Love the Philippines" blunder, where the agency released an ad featuring clips of places from other countries. Its 2025 GAA now allocates only P1.11 billion for the "Market and Product Development Program."
While Philippine tourism revenues hit a record high in 2024, the DOT was unable to meet its target for the number of foreign tourists visiting the Philippines.
Marcos has since ordered that the P400 million cut should be subsidized by the Office of the President’s contingency fund.
"Restore the P400 million branding budget of DOT to sustain the momentum," Marcos told the Department of Budget and Management.
Marcos cited the Philippines has successfully boosted its international image due to the achievements of "The Voice US" winner Sofronio Vasquez and two-time Olympic gold medalist Carlos Yulo.
"The reinstatement of the branding budget is a vote of confidence in the department’s vision and efforts, and it further motivates us to champion the Philippines as a global tourism powerhouse," the agency said in a statement.
Department of Social Welfare and Development
While the DSWD’s overall budget had a relatively smaller budget cut of P12.72 billion, its proposed budget for the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) was slashed from P114.185 billion to P64.185 billion.
In a separate statement, the Palace said that Marcos believed the 4Ps budget should not be reallocated to unprogrammed funds.
“DSWD programs should no longer [be] in the unprogrammed appropriation next year,” Marcos said in a meeting with DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian.
The DSWD is currently requesting P41.8 billion from the unprogrammed appropriations.
However, Congress already attempted to reallocate P50 billion of the 4Ps budget to the unprogrammed funds— but Marcos himself vetoed this portion.
Department of Health, PhilHealth
PhilHealth saw the relatively largest budget cut, with the government giving its zero subsidy.
Marcos himself does not seem keen on restoring any of the subsidy through other sources. The president defended the budget cut, saying that the state insurer had P500 billion in reserve funds.
However, he instructed DOH Secretary Teodoro Herbosa to ensure that PhilHealth services remain unhampered.
“Make sure that services of PhilHealth remain unhampered … it (zero budget) should not affect the delivery of healthcare services,” Marcos told Herbosa.
The PhilHealth budget cut was one of the more heavily contested budget points, with health advocates and civic groups slamming the move. Legislators have defended the move, saying that PhilHealth should have better managed its funds.
Department of Science and Technology
While the DOST did not face an overall budget cut (its budget slightly increased from the NEP, going from P28.45 billion to P28.67 billion), it did request additional funding from the president.
DOST Secretary Renato Solidum Jr. asked Marcos for P680 million for the continued building of the Virology and Vaccine Institute of the Philippines (VIP) building.
The VIP was created for the research of viruses and viral diseases. Solidum said there are many Filipino scientists returning to the country who have expressed the desire to help the DOST.
Solidum said the Department of Public Works and Highways did not have a budget for the VIP building, which already has structural deterioration.
"We find money for this when we are able to identify the specific items as you know not ready for implementation. The papers are not complete,” Marcos said in a mix of English and Filipino.
Office of the Vice President
The OVP’s hearing was one of the more viral spectacles during the budget deliberation process, which eventually ended up with Vice President Sara Duterte snubbing the discussions altogether.
Initially allotted P2.04 billion, Congress decided to cut the OVP’s budget down to P733.2 million.
Lawmakers cited the OVP had redundant programs with other agencies, adding that none of the programs were in its mandate.
The OVP recently announced in a Facebook post that it was not allotted a budget for the Medical and Burial Assistance Program. However, the OVP failed to defend its budget until the end of Congressional deliberations.