Senate Pres. Chiz Escudero Speaks on Crafting of National Budget Following Marcos Jr.’s SONA Remarks
CHIZ ESCUDERO – The Senate President claimed that the secretaries of President Bongbong Marcos allegedly ask for additional budget.
During his 4th State of the Nation Address, one of the SONA remarks of the Chief Executive that hooked different opinions was about the national budget proposals. Pres. Bongbong Marcos claimed that he will not approve budget proposals that are not in line with the government plans. He also stressed that he will return budget proposals that are not in line with the National Expenditure Program or NEP.
Furthermore, the President claimed that he is willing to go as much as the nation having a reenacted budget to ensure that all the funds will benefit the Filipino people. Following the remarks of the President, Senate chief Chiz Escudero was asked about his side on the SONA remarks of Marcos Jr. regarding the national budget.
Senate Pres. Chiz Escudero who was reelected as the Senate chief after getting 19 votes stressed that the “power of the purse” still belongs to the Congress. According to him, the Congress must not be treated like a “rubber stamp” only because the proposal came from the executive department.
Senate Pres. Chiz Escudero also claimed that what should be changed must be changed. According to him, the Cabinet secretaries of Pres. Bongbong Marcos themselves are allegedly asking for additional budget for their departments or a change in the funding.
“Ang marapat na dapat baguhin, dapat baguhin dahil ‘yung mga kalihim mismo ng Pangulo ay humihiling sa Kongreso ng dagdag o pagbabago sa kani-kanilang budget,” the Senate President said.
Escudero, based on a report on GMA News, further claimed that in line with the claim of Pres. Bongbong Marcos that he will not approve budget proposals that are not in line with the NEP, the Chief Executive must allegedly tell his Cabinet secretaries to no longer ask for additional budget once the proposal has been submitted to the Department of Budget and Management.
Senate Pres. Chiz Escudero denied the claims that billions of pesos of insertions allegedly took place in the 2025 national budget. Based on the report, he reiterated that the NEP is not set on stone just because it was crafted by the executive department.
“Ang panukalang budget ay nanggagaling hindi lamang sa executive pero pati sa Kongreso. Hindi naman porket binalangkas ng executive lahat ‘yun ay tama na. Hindi naman porket binalangkas ng executive lahat ‘yun ay hindi na pwedeng baguhin at tila nakaukit na sa bato,” the Senate President said.
Recently, Malacañang expressed a call to the Congress over the crafting of the national budget and the upcoming bicameral conference committee budget talks.