Legal challenges loom as critics say Philippines' 2025 budget is unconstitutional

Analysts, stakeholders allege it fails to meet requirements to prioritise health, education

- Mara Cepeda

The Philippines' 6.33 trillion peso (S$150 billion) national budget for 2025 could face legal challenges, as critics prepare to question alleged unconstitutional provisions before the Supreme Court.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr signed the budget Bill into law on Dec 30, saying the record-high spending programme will spur economic growth and reduce poverty.

He had delayed the signing by almost a week, citing the need to review the budget after civil society groups accused Congress of diverting money from the education and health sectors, as well as services to help the poor, to fund their pet projects instead.

Mr Marcos vetoed 194 billion pesos' worth of items in the budget that he said were "inconsistent with the administration's priority programmes".

But analysts and stakeholders said the President's veto did not address the alleged irregularities, as the budget still failed to meet the constitutional requirement to prioritise health and education.

For example, the proposed 74 billion peso subsidy for the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth), which subsidises the medical expenses of paying members and shoulders the costs for non-paying indigent groups, was slashed in its entirety.

With the reduction, the entire health budget for 2025 is at 267.8 billion pesos, the fifth-highest among all sectors for 2025.

Marcos-allied lawmakers argued that officials of PhilHealth, which has long been plagued by corruption issues, need to be taught a lesson for irregular spending. They said the agency can still provide healthcare services, since it has an untapped 600 billion pesos in reserve funds.