(UPDATE) MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) on Tuesday submitted the P7.2-trillion National Expenditure Program (NEP) for 2027 to the Senate and House of Representatives..
Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian, together with Finance Committee Chairman Sen. Joseph Victor Ejercito and Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri, received a copy of the 2027 NEP.
The turnover was led by Acting Budget Secretary Kim Robert De Leon with Presidential Legislative Liaison Office Secretary Joey Sarte Salceda and Department of Budget and Management officials, including Undersecretaries Janet Abuel, Mary Anne Dela Vega, and Ryan S. Lita; Officer-in-Charge Assistant Secretary Andrea Celene M. Magtalas; and Undersecretary Goddes Hope Libiran.
The national budget prioritizes investments in education, health, social protection, food security, infrastructure, jobs, digitalization, and disaster resilience, with Social Services receiving the largest share at P2.456 trillion.
Budget for education remains the top priority, with proposed allocation amounting to P976 billion for the Department of Education.
The government also proposed significant funding for health care, infrastructure, agriculture, transportation, and housing, among others.
Earlier in the day, the House received a copy of the spending plan Speaker Faustino Dy 3rd said would be subjected to rigorous scrutiny to ensure that every peso would be spent for the benefit of all Filipinos.
The proposed budget is 6 percent, or P407 billion, higher than the P6.793-trillion national budget enacted for 2026.
At the sidelines of the NEP turnover, Dy noted that lawmakers would be guided by the administration’s theme of a “People-Centered Growth for an Inclusive and Resilient Future.”
“It is not enough to simply state the amount being spent. We must demonstrate what every peso achieves. Every peso must translate into tangible relief for every Filipino,” Dy said in Filipino.
“In the new Congress, we will meticulously scrutinize every aspect of the proposal. We will ask agencies not only about the amount they are requesting but also how it will be utilized and what concrete results it will deliver to the public,” he added.
Aside from Education, Public Works (P644 billion), Health (P353.8 billion), Interior and Local Government (P332.5 billion), Defense (P328.8 billion), Transportation (P302.2 billion), Agriculture (P261.7 billion), Social Welfare (P241.6 billion), Higher Education (P176.5 billion), and Judiciary (P86.3 billion) round up the Top 10 receiving the highest appropriations.
READ: Proposed 2027 National Expenditure Program [Read more]
