00:00President Bongbong Marcos' eyes were on the additional funds approved by the Congress for the DPWH
00:06in the middle of the increase in the more than 11 billion pesos budget of the Department of Education for 2025.
00:14The President also commented on the removed subsidy for PhilHealth.
00:18That's what I'm talking about.
00:24In the approved budget of the Bicameral Conference Committee that was joined by the delegation of the Senate and the House of Representatives,
00:29the Department of Education was given more than 11.5 billion pesos in the budget.
00:34But this is not in line with the direction of his administration, according to President Bongbong Marcos.
00:40So he wants to find a way to get that amount back.
00:44I think it is contrary to all our policy directions.
00:49When we talk about the STEM development of our educational sector,
00:57and then to the continuing development, because the lost 10 billion comes from the computerization,
01:06computerization item. So we're working on it to make sure that we will restore it.
01:14The President also criticized the insertion or addition of children in the DPWH fund,
01:21which reached more than P288 billion pesos, which reduced the budget of the agency by more than P1 trillion pesos.
01:28That's more than the budget for education. According to the Constitution, the largest fund should be introduced every year.
01:34We will look into the insertions in the public works and see which ones are absolutely necessary.
01:44Maybe we will look into the others, if they are really critical. We'll see.
01:51The President has no problem with the removal of BICAM from the government subsidy of almost P75 billion for PhilHealth.
01:58PhilHealth has a reserve fund of P500 billion. If a subsidy is given, the fund can only be used for the needs of the agencies.
02:07PhilHealth's problem is not the fund, but the system of their process of claims.
02:12The truth is, if you look at it, the Department of Finance has returned some of the reserve funds that were left there,
02:24because it was not used for a few years. In other words, PhilHealth has sufficient budget to do all of the things that they want to do.
02:34The President has the power to veto or remove some particular provisions of the national budget.
02:41But the President does not plan to use his power and veto.
02:45The leaders of the House and Senate are already having a discussion.
02:49He believes that he will win the election and he will sign the budget before Christmas.
02:55For GMA Integrated News, Ivan Mayrena, Katutok, 24 Hours.
03:11you
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