The Senate-House bicameral conference committee’s deliberations on the 2025 General Appropriations Bill (GAB) ended yesterday with lawmakers approving a P6.352 trillion national budget.
Among the key features of the approved measure is an increase in the subsistence allowances of military personnel and reinstating the allocation for a crucial aid package intended to help minimum wage earners keep up with inflation.
House Speaker Martin Romualdez said the bicam-approved 2025 national budget ensures the country’s sustained progress under President Marcos’s “Bagong Pilipinas” vision.
“We increased it [soldiers’ daily subsistence allowance] from P150 to P350… that is going to be maintained and fully supported for our soldiers. That translates to almost P10,500 per month,” the Speaker told reporters in an ambush interview after the meeting.
He said the impetus to raise soldiers’ allowances came from the President himself.
“This is a big step forward in showing our full support for the men and women in uniform. It recognizes their sacrifices and the sacrifices of their families who stand behind them,” Romualdez said in a separate statement.
House Committee on Appropriations Chairman and Ako Bicol Party-list Rep. Zaldy Co announced that the increase in soldiers’ subsistence allowance would be funded by a P16-billion allocation in next year’s national budget.
Meanwhile, the allocation for the Marcos Administration’s Ayuda sa Kapos ang Kita Program (AKAP) was retained as Congressmen and Senators agreed to “meet in the middle.”
The House of Representatives sought P39 billion for the program which the Senate had scrapped. A compromise was reached, resulting in a budget of P26 billion for next year.
Senator Grace Poe said their counterparts from the Lower Chamber explained the benefits of AKAP to financially-struggling Filipinos.
“We know that AKAP is a House of Representatives initiative. They [Congressmen] explained how this helps our countrymen. We [Senators] listened. However, we agreed on a lower amount [for the program],” she said in Filipino.
Poe also noted that the Senate will allocate P5 billion while the House will set aside P21 billion for the AKAP program.
“We thank our fellow congressmen and the Senate for supporting AKAP. It was maintained and restored, so the AKAP program for the poor will continue,” Romualdez later said.
Meanwhile, lawmakers decided not to allocate a subsidy budget for the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) citing that it still has P600 billion in reserve funds.
“If I’m not mistaken, PhilHealth still has P600 billion in reserve funds. That is deposited somewhere… but definitely, its interest earnings are much lower than inflation. So, the government is losing money. Right now, it [PhilHealth] has not received funding. It has to use its reserve funds first,” she said in Filipino.
The committee also approved a P733 million allocation for the Office of the Vice President (OVP).
Editor’s Note: This is an updated article. Originally posted with the headline “House lawmakers thank senators for restoring AKAP in the 2025 national budget.”
