House okays 2025 natl budget bill on 3rd reading

MANILA, Philippines — Voting 285-3-0, the House of Representatives on Wednesday evening approved on third and final reading the General Appropriations Bill (GAB) for 2025, which allocates P6.352 trillion.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. certified the bill as urgent.

This certification allowed the House to approve the GAB, House Bill 10800 as amended, on third and final reading before its scheduled break.

The 1987 Constitution states, «No bill passed by either House shall become a law unless it has passed three readings on separate days, and printed copies thereof in its final form have been distributed to its Members three days before its passage, except when the President certifies to the necessity of its immediate enactment to meet a public calamity or emergency.»

Under the 1987 Constitution, the House is tasked with crafting the national budget bill. The Constitution allows the Senate to propose or concur with amendments.

Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez said that approving the bill before the recess would give the Senate enough time to deliberate on and approve the budget.