State Dining Room, Malacañan Palace
January 7, 2025
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. presided over the 18th Cabinet Meeting at the State Dining Room in Malacañan Palace.
Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Amenah Pangandaman presented the major Programs, Activities and Projects (PAPs) with significant adjustments from Congress across various government agencies regarding the implementation of the General Appropriations Act (GAA) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2025.
The Agencies with budgetary adjustments include the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Department of Education (DepEd), Department of Health (DOH), PhilHealth, Department of Agriculture (DA), Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), Department of National Defense (DND), and Department of Transportation (DOTr).
DOTr Secretary Jaime Bautista addressed the delays in the implementation of Infrastructure Flagship Projects (IFPs), noting that the Department’s biggest issue is the Right of Way (ROW).
He emphasized that one of the Department’s major projects is the North-South Commuter Railway — a 147-kilometer railway system spanning from Clark Airport in Pampanga to Calamba, Laguna. This project, which started during the previous administration, is already underway and aims to have partial operations by the end of 2028.
Secretary Bautista further assured that the implementation of major projects will proceed according to the newly established timetable, which is designed to continuously strengthen the transportation sector.
To restore the items removed from the 2025 GAA and ensure that the actual expenditure program reflects the National Expenditure Program (NEP), President Marcos Jr. issued a directive to all government agencies to reexamine the Administration’s programs contained in the NEP but defunded by Congress.
He underscored the importance of focusing on the government’s critical socioeconomic programs, highlighting the PhP12 billion decrease in road maintenance, the PhP500 million reduction in funding for routine bridge maintenance and the PhP21 billion budget cut for feasibility studies.
The total programmed appropriations for FY 2025 amount to PhP6.326 trillion, equivalent to 22.0 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP), representing an increase of 9.7 percent compared to FY 2024.
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