President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Friday said he is looking for ways to raise the budget allotted for the education, health, and tourism sectors in 2025.

In a media interview in Buauen, Leyte, Marcos said he is focused on restoring the budget allocations proposed in the 2025 National Expenditure Program (NEP) that were reduced by Congress and contained in the 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA).

“Perhaps, the budget [that] was passed, you could describe it as suboptimal. But we are remedying that situation,” Marcos said. “As I said, the original budget can be described as suboptimal. We are working to make it optimal once again.”

The NEP is the national government’s spending plan for the next fiscal year submitted to Congress and becomes the General Appropriations Bill (GAB) when approved by Congress.

The GAB will then become the GAA upon signing into law.

On Dec. 30, 2024, Marcos signed into law the PHP6.326-trillion GAA for 2025 and vetoed over PHP194 billion in line items he deemed inconsistent with his administration’s priorities.

On Jan. 7, Marcos directed his Cabinet to revisit the administration’s programs contained in the NEP but were defunded by Congress, particularly those critical to the socioeconomic program.

Marcos is holding a series of meetings with different government agencies to discuss the results of their budget review.

In a meeting at Malacañan on Tuesday, Marcos instructed the Department of Health to ensure the uninterrupted delivery of services by the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation despite receiving zero subsidy from the budget.

Marcos, in a separate meeting on Wednesday, directed the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to reinstate the PHP400-million branding budget for the Department of Tourism to sustain the momentum. Funding will then be sourced from the President’s contingency fund.

On Thursday, Marcos also sought to increase the funding for the education sector, following the budget cut in the Department of Education and insufficient funds for the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority’s programs for 2025. (PNA)