Marcos certifies 2025 nat'l budget bill urgent

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. certified as urgent House Bill 10800—the General Appropriations Bill (GAB) for 2025 or the 2025 national budget bill.

The certification was read in the House plenary on Tuesday night.

Majority Leader and Zamboanga City 2nd District Rep. Manuel Jose Dalipe, chairman of the Committee on Rules, said that such a certification would allow the House to approve the GAB on second and third/final reading on the same day.

The House is expected to approve the bill on third/final reading on Wednesday before it goes on a break.

The 2025 national budget totaled P6.352 trillion.

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

The House is conducting plenary debates on the 2025 national budget which started on September 16, 2024.

The bill proceeded to the House plenary level after the Committee on Appropriations finished its meetings with government offices to craft the measure.

Before approving the GAB on Wednesday, the House will hear lawmakers' statements against the bill and will have a period for any amendment to it.

«Due to expected numerous amendment suggestions, the House, as in previous years, is expected to create a small committee to take charge of the proposals», a press release on Sunday from Romualdez's office read.

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.