Metro Manila, Philippines – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s move to veto some items in the 2025 budget is nothing but pure deception, a lawmaker said on Tuesday, Dec. 31.
In a press statement, France Castro, ACT Teacher’s party-list representative, described the newly-signed budget law as “a deceptive maneuver to create an illusion of constitutional compliance”.
“Ang pag-veto ng P194 billion sa DPWH projects ay panlilinlang lamang para magmukhang constitutional ang budget dahil mas malaki raw ang education sector. Pero ang katotohanan, hindi naman maibabalik ang mga binawas sa edukasyon,” she said.
[Translation: The veto of the P194 billion in DPWH (Department of Public Works and Highways) projects is just a deception to make the budget appear constitutional because the education sector’s budget is supposedly bigger. But the truth is, the cuts in education cannot be restored]
While the education sector secured the highest share in the 2025 budget with P1.055 trillion, it narrowly surpassed DPWH funds at P1.007 trillion.
Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman said it cannot restore cuts in DepEd’s spending plan under the Constitution. She explained that the government may tap unprogrammed appropriations instead to augment the agency’s funds.
Marcos earlier vowed to reinstate the cuts made by Congress to the education budget after Secretary Sonny Angara lamented that this would hit computerization efforts in schools.
“The education budget should have been set at 6% of GDP (gross domestic product) from the start to meet UN (United Nations) standards,” Castro said.
“What our education sector needs is genuine prioritization, not political theatrics,” she added.
NewsWatch Plus correspondent Lance Mejico contributed to this report
