Metro Manila, Philippines – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has justified his decision to veto approximately ₱194 billion worth of items in the ₱6.326 trillion proposed budget for 2025, emphasizing the importance of fiscal discipline and prioritizing key national needs.
“We must be clearly driven by this goal because much as we want to do everything we wish for our people immediately and all at the same time, our finite resources compel us to exercise sound judgment to ensure our fiscal sustainability. We must not compromise our future; thus, the imperative need to program our priorities,” Marcos said in a letter addressed to Senate President Chiz Escudero and House Speaker Martin Romualdez.
The veto is an executive power that allows the President to reject specific provisions or items in a proposed budget or legislation passed by Congress. It serves as a check on legislative power, ensuring that the budget aligns with the administration’s priorities and fiscal policies.
Among the vetoed items is ₱26 billion in proposed projects under the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), which include flood control systems, river rehabilitation programs, irrigation projects, and some multi-purpose buildings.
Marcos clarified that the vetoed initiatives were part of a broader effort to align infrastructure priorities with the government’s “Build Better More” program, which aims to prioritize projects based on their urgency, implementation-readiness, and the capacity of government agencies to manage them effectively.
“The programs, projects, and activities that we have programmed in the FY 2025 National Expenditure Program (NEP) under the budget of the DPWH are consistent with the Build Better More infrastructure program of our government, and were carefully considered taking into account the urgency of need, implementation-readiness, and agency absorptive capacity,” Marcos stated.
In addition to the vetoed infrastructure projects, the President also expressed concern over unprogrammed funds—resources that are not initially included in the budget but are made available if certain conditions are met. Marcos vetoed ₱168 billion worth of unprogrammed funds, stressing that “expenditures should generally be within the parameters of programmed resources.”
Unprogrammed funds are typically set aside for unforeseen expenditures or contingencies, but their use requires specific conditions, such as exceeding revenue projections or urgent national needs.
“I call on the conscientious utilization of this Budget with the end in mind of sustaining the country’s high-growth trajectory, managing inflation, and accelerating the implementation of well-targeted social services and structural reforms geared towards achieving our medium-term goals of reducing poverty incidence, decreasing unemployment rates, and achieving upper middle-income status,” the President concluded in his statement.
