DBM urges lawmakers to adhere closely to Marcos’ NEP

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) yesterday called on lawmakers to adhere “as closely as possible” to the Marcos administration’s National Expenditure Program (NEP), as it prepares to submit the President’s outlay to Congress in two weeks.

In his State of the Nation Address on Monday, President Marcos warned he would reject any proposed General Appropriations Bill (GAB) not fully aligned with the NEP, even if it would mean reenacting the budget for the following year.

“We, at the DBM, support the wisdom of the President as we trust that his decisions are always about what’s best for the country. We appeal to our lawmakers to follow President Bongbong Marcos’ directive and adhere to the NEP as closely as possible,” Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman said in a statement

“We are now printing our budget. In two weeks, we will submit it to the House of Representatives and the Senate,” the budget chief said at a post-SONA forum yesterday.

With President Marcos emphasizing the need for strict adherence to the NEP, Pangandaman warned that any deviation can result in delays in project implementation.

Last December, Marcos vetoed P194 billion worth of items in this year’s P6.326-trillion national budget, saying they are not aligned with government priorities. The rejected items consisted of more than 170 public works projects and 15 unprogrammed appropriations.

The NEP, also known as the President’s budget, will be published in the DBM website. Budget deliberations in Congress will be open to the public via video conferencing application Zoom and the websites of the House and the Senate.

“We want our countrymen to participate, especially our youth, so they would know how the budget is crafted and how it is completed,” Pangandaman said.

She stressed the importance of crafting a national budget that reflects the administration’s priorities and the programs proposed by Cabinet secretaries.

“If the budget is changed and is not the same as what the Cabinet did, first of all, the implementation of projects will be delayed because we are not ready for that,” she said.

“If new projects are introduced that are inconsistent with our programs, we will struggle to implement them. These inconsistencies delay execution and disrupt our budgeting system,” Pangandaman added.

More than P142 billion – mostly for infrastructure – had been inserted into the 2025 budget, reportedly during the bicameral conference deliberations in late 2024.

The insertions appeared to favor specific areas such as Bulacan, Sorsogon, Mindoro, Batangas, Davao, Quezon, Cavite, Valenzuela City and Cebu.

In a statement hours after SONA, Pangandaman appealed to Congress “to follow President Marcos’ directive and adhere to the NEP as closely as possible” if its members were really serious about pushing for accountability.