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President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. on December 20 signed the 2024 national budget of P5.768 trillion, 9.5% more than the P5.268-trillion budget in 2023
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The most allocation went to social services and economic services
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The Department of Education received the biggest budget of P924.7 billion, closely followed by the Department of Public Works and Highways with P822.2 billion
President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. has signed into law the P5.768-trillion national budget for 2024 that allocates the biggest appropriation for the social services and economic services sectors.
Republic Act No. 11975, also known as the General Appropriations Act of 2024, was signed on December 20, shortly after both houses of Congress ratified the bill on December 11.
The government’s national budget for next year is equivalent to 21.7% of the country’s gross domestic product and is 9.5% higher than the P5.268-trillion budget for 2023.
Speaking during the signing ceremony, Marcos reminded agencies implementing the expenditure program to fight red tape “that leads to underspending and overspending that disregards legal guardrails,” emphasizing further that these are “two sides of the same coin.”
He said: “Implementation delay and illegal deviations inflict the same havoc of denying the people of the progress and development that they deserve.
“So, with this reminder comes the most important budget commandment that we must all receive. We are working for the people, not for ourselves. We are working for the country not for ourselves,” he asserted.
The 2024 national budget was crafted according to the Medium-Term Fiscal Framework and will prioritize expenditures in line with the administration’s 8-Point Socioeconomic Agenda and the goals under the Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028.
The social services sector was allocated the largest share of the budget to improve the quality of life of Filipinos. This was followed by the economic services sector to provide high investments in public infrastructure.
Beyond these sectors, the general public services received substantial allocation to cover the expenditures for public order and safety, civil service, and general administration. Allocations are made for managing the debt burden, covering interest payments on both local and foreign borrowings, as well as net lending to government corporations. Additionally, defense funding is designated to safeguard the country’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.
The Department of Education was allocated the biggest budget of P924.7 billion, closely followed by the Department of Public Works and Highways with P822.2 billion. The Department of Health received P306.1 billion.
