DAVAO City Third District Representative Isidro Ungab expressed concerns about the absence of a printed copy of the 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA), noting this was unprecedented in his 15 years of service in the Philippine Congress.
In a Facebook post on Monday morning, January 13, 2024, Ungab shared his dismay: “This is the first time in my 15 years experience in the Philippine Congress that no printed copy of GAA is presented upon resumption of congress after the Christmas break.”
President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. signed the 2025 GAA into law on December 30, 2024, at Malacañang Palace following the Rizal Day commemoration. The President vetoed over ₱194 billion in line items deemed inconsistent with his administration’s priorities.
In his speech, Marcos said that the 2025 GAA aimed to sustain economic growth and improve the lives of Filipinos. He also highlighted the need for careful curation and scrutiny of the budget.
Ungab previously raised issues about “inconsistent computations” in the 2025 GAA, specifically regarding the education sector’s budget. He argued that education, which constitutionally receives the highest budgetary priority, appeared to have lower allocations than other departments, such as the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
In response, DBM Undersecretary Goddes Hope Libiran clarified that the figures cited by Ungab came from the Congress Bicameral Conference Committee, not the Department of Budget and Management (DBM). She explained that the education budget encompasses not just the Department of Education (DepEd) but also agencies such as the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda), the Commission on Higher Education (Ched), State Universities and Colleges, and the Philippine Science High School.
Libiran also referenced Section 5(5), Article XIV of the 1987 Constitution, which mandates that education receives the highest budgetary priority across the entire education sector, not solely for DepEd. RGP