Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman on Friday expressed confidence about the immediate passage of the proposed PHP6.352-trillion national budget for 2025.

The Department of Budget (DBM) chief thanked Senate President Francis Escudero and House Speaker Martin Romualdez for heeding President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s request to pass the proposed 2025 budget on time.

“Thus, we are confident about the immediate passage of the proposed national budget for next year so that we can continue implementing programs and initiatives for the welfare of our people,” Pangandaman said in a statement.

The House of Representatives approved on third and final reading the House Bill (HB) 10800 or the 2025 General Appropriations Bill (GAB) on Wednesday, or a day after Marcos certified the measure as urgent.

Following its passage at the House of Representatives, the 2025 GAB will be transmitted to the Senate for further reading and scrutiny.

Pangandaman thanked the House lawmakers for passing the proposed 2025 national budget.

Senate Finance Committee chairperson Grace Poe on Thursday said committee hearings on the 2025 GAB would be wrapped up on Oct. 18, in time for a short All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day break.

Poe added that after the committee hearings and the transmittal of GAB to the Senate, the panel would start preparing the committee report for the plenary deliberations on Nov. 4.

Marcos on Tuesday certified the enactment of GAB as urgent “to ensure the uninterrupted operation of critical government functions, guarantee the allocation of fiscal resources for vital initiatives, and enable the government to adeptly respond to emerging challenges.”

The 2025 National Expenditure Program, which the DBM turned over to Congress in July 2024, serves as the basis for the GAB. (PNA)