By Brian Campued
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. is willing to join the bicameral conference committee’s budget deliberations, if needed, to ensure that the proposed 2026 national budget stays aligned with government priorities and includes only “shovel-ready” projects, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said Tuesday.
In a statement, DBM Sec. Amenah Pangandaman assured that the President is personally monitoring the entire budget process for next year—noting that as early as January, he had already issued directives on the matter.
“In fact, bago mag-eleksiyon may mga bilin po siya. Uupuan po namin lagi ‘yan (budget process) hanggang sa dulo po. Kung kinakailangan na umupo siya sa bicam, uupo ang ating Pangulo sa bicam,” she said.
Pangandaman also stressed that the national budget continues to play a key role in stimulating the economy, with almost 18% of the economic growth can be attributed to the budget utilization.
“This year po, ‘yong paglago ng ating ekonomiya, masaya po tayo dyan dahil alam natin na nakatulong po ‘yong budget natin. For the first time po ‘yong contribution ng budget, double digit po ‘yan—almost 18%. Napaka-taas din po nung increase nung ating GDP growth. Otherwise po, kung wala tayong budget, baka 3% lang po ang nilago ng ating ekonomiya,” she said.
The DBM utilizes the Two-Tier Budgeting Approach (2TBA) in crafting the national budget—with Tier 1 covering regular expenses such as salaries (personnel services), operating costs (maintenance and other operating expenses), and ongoing capital projects, while Tier 2 includes big or new projects that need additional funding as requested by concerned agencies.
“Ito po ‘yong talagang tinitingnan natin. Kasi po ‘yong iba po sa mga [projects] hindi pa ready. Mahirap naman po pondohan kung hindi shovel-ready. Sayang naman po. Titingnan po natin ‘yong mga utilization rate,” the Budget chief said.
The Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC)—chaired by the DBM and composed of the Department of Finance (DOF), Department of Economy, Planning, and Development (formerly NEDA), and the Office of the President—will meet on May 26 to finalize and announce the official budget ceiling, which would depend on revenue projections from the DOF, Bureau of Internal Revenue, and Bureau of Customs.
Once the budget ceiling and proposed programs are finalized, the DBCC will meet with the President to review key projects, especially those under the administration’s priority agenda.
The target spending level for Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 is based on the government’s Medium-Term Fiscal Framework, which estimates a budget of almost P7 trillion.
Marcos signed the 2025 General Appropriations Act on Dec. 30, 2024, which amounted to P6.326 trillion but had vetoed P194 billion worth of items he deemed inconsistent with the administration’s priorities.
-av
