Marcos delays signing national budget, vows to address DepEd cuts

PRESIDENT Ferdinand “Bong Bong” Marcos Jr. delays signing of the General Appropriations Act (GAA) that is supposedly scheduled on December 20, 2024, according to Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin on Wednesday. 

“The scheduled signing of the General Appropriations Act on December 20 will not push through to allow more time for a rigorous and exhaustive review of a measure that will determine the course of the nation for the next year,” said Bersamin.

He stated that this was because the National Budget Plan for 2025 is still under review, with President Marcos leading the on-going assessment by consulting with “heads of major departments”. 

No specific timeline for the budget signing is announced. 

“While we cannot yet announce the date of the signing, we can now confirm that certain items and provisions of the national budget bill will be vetoed in the interest of public welfare, to conform with the fiscal program, and in compliance with laws,” Bersamin added.

DepEd budget cuts called out

It was just last December 11 when the bicameral conference committee approved the House Bill No. 10800 or the proposed PHP6.352 Trillion for the 2025 national budget. Some government authorities have flagged the spikes and slashes for the allocated budget in certain departments. 

One of them was the current Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary, Sonny Angara— a former senator himself. Angara could not help but express his dismay over the DepEd’s huge budget deduction for next year. The cut amounts to PHP10 billion— a fund allotted for their computerization program. 

“After all the promises and nice words, sadly Congress cut the President’s proposed budget for the Department of Education, particularly PHP10 billion for computerization. This despite the president’s SONA where he asked Congress to help bridge the digital divide,” said Secretary Angara. 

According to the Congress, the reduction of DepEd’s budget was due to the irregularities that occurred when it was under Vice President Sara Duterte. This includes anomalies on the laptops that were bought in 2023 but haven’t yet been distributed to the teachers, and COA’s report on the department’s allotted budget of PHP11 billion from which only PHP2 billion were used. 

“Noong mga nakaraang panahon, nagiging notorious ang DepEd sa pagiging delayed nila sa kanilang mga procurement at lalung-lalo na sa pag-uphold nila ng transparency and accountability,” explained Representative and Assistant Majority Leader Jay Khonghun. 

ACT Teacher Partylist Representative France Castro condemned this reasoning. She viewed the move as “a clear manifestation of the government’s anti-education and anti-poor policies.”

“Paano nga ba maiibsan ang learning crisis kung binabawasan pa ang pondo ng edukasyon? Ang PHP10 billion na kinat sa program ay malaking dagok sa ating mga mag-aaral na desperadong makahabol sa digital age,” said Castro. 

The lawmaker insisted that students, teachers, and the education sector should not endure the consequences of ‘anomalies’ made by former DepEd secretary Duterte. 

Meanwhile, President Marcos vowed to turn things around for the education department and remedy the ‘huge budget cut’, said Secretary Angara. 

According to the 1987 Philippine constitution, the highest budget priority should be allocated to education. But in the 2025 national budget plan proposed by the bicameral, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has the highest allocation with PHP1.1 trillion over DepEd’s PHP737 billion. 

Yet the Congress insisted that DepEd still has the bigger budget due to having different allocation funds for the agencies under it such as College of Higher Education (CHED), Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), the state colleges and universities, as well as the lined-up infrastructure projects like school buildings.