00:00Those chambers of Congress have ratified this proposed 6.352 trillion peso national budget for next year.
00:08This, as Presidential Communications Office says, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. is expected to sign the 2025 budget before Christmas.
00:16BTV's Daniel Manalastas has more.
00:21As the Bicameral Conference Committee for the 2025 National Budget finished its work,
00:26they agreed to retain the budget of the Office of the Vice President to P733 million pesos for next year.
00:56Meanwhile, on the another contentious provision such as ACAP, it will still be funded next year. But here's the twist.
01:26So the initial amount that the House is asking for, 39 billion if I'm not mistaken, we reduced it to 20, about 26 billion or 20 plus billion.
01:41So it's not like what they're asking for, but we were able to give it because we made it more clear what ACAP is for.
01:56Senator Sherwin Gatchalian clarified some issues on ACAP.
02:00At the end of the day, this is an executive budget, not a legislative budget. We can only do so much in terms of referrals, but it's the execution of the executive side that matters.
02:11Meanwhile, House Speaker Martin Romaldes assured an increased budget for Soldiers' Subsistence Allowance.
02:18We heard the news, so like what we did, we added an increase of the AFP for our Soldiers' Daily Subsistence Allowance.
02:30We increased it from 150 to 350. That is going to be maintained and fully supported by our soldiers.
02:39On the other hand, Senators expressed different opinions on the budget of PhilHealth. Senator Grace Poe said the agency has reserve funds.
02:48PhilHealth was not given a budget because they need to use their reserve funds first.
02:57But the legality might be questioned because it's in the law.
03:02That's the issue now. They're not spending their money.
03:06Some Senators expressed dismay on what happened to the DOST's budget.
03:11I'm disappointed because the DOST budget was not given an additional budget.
03:16I feel sorry for the PHEVOCs. The volcano that erupted the other day, they said they don't have enough monitoring equipment.
03:25Once the budget process concludes in Congress, it will be up for the President's review and signature.
03:30From PTV, Daniel Manalastas, Balitang Pambansa.
