EMPHASIZING the government’s commitment to enhancing the quality and accessibility of education for all Filipinos, education topped among the priority sectors in the proposed P6.352 trillion for the national budget for 2025 that the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) formally submitted to the House of Representatives on Monday (29 July 2024).

The proposed National Expenditure Program (NEP) for Fiscal Year 2025, with the theme “Agenda for Prosperity: Fulfilling the Needs and Aspirations of the Filipino People,” is notably 10.1 percent increase from the P5.768 trillion budget in 2004.

Of the P6.352 trillion, P977.6 billion is allocated for the education sector, and P900 billion is proposed to go to public works.

P297.6 billion is allotted for health programs, lower than this year’s budget of P308.3 billion, while the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) gets P278.4 billion allocation.

In the face of Chinese incursions in the West Philippine Sea, a proposed P256.1 billion will go to the Department of National Defense (DND), an increase by P15.5 billion from the current budget of P240.6 billion.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is allocated P230.1 billion in the 2025 NEP, lower than this year’s P248.1-billion budget.

Some P211.3 billion, a decline from the current budget of P221.7 billion, is earmarked for the Department of Agriculture (DA).

Meanwhile, the transportation sector sees a huge increase to P180.9 billion from the current budget of P73.9 billion.

The judiciary is allocated P63.6 billion, while P40.6 billion is allocated for the Department of Justice (DOJ).

Still, P876.7 billion is allocated for service of the national debt.