Proposed P7.2-T 2027 Nat'l Budget to be Submitted to Congress Before Aug. 14

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) is aiming to submit the proposed P7.2 trillion 2027 national budget to Congress before the 30-day constitutional deadline following the opening of the regular legislative session. "Before August 14," Budget Secretary Kim Robert de Leon told reporters in a chance interview on Friday. The DBM's target submission of the National Expenditure Plan (NEP) for 2027 is two weeks after Marcos' previous State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 27. Under Section 22, Article VII of the Constitution, the President must submit the proposed national budget to Congress within 30 days from the opening of the regular legislative session, which coincides with the SONA. The Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC), chaired by the DBM, has set the national budget next year at P7.2 trillion, equivalent to 21.7% of the country's gross domestic product. The P7.2 trillion national budget ceiling for 2027 is also 6% higher than the P6.793 trillion budget this year. In his National Budget Memorandum 158, De Leon said the proposed budget for next year "will focus on programs, activities, and projects (PAPs) that seek to create better opportunities and address the needs of the Filipino people, helping ensure a more resilient and secure future for all." The DBM's Briefer on the 2027 Budget Priorities Framework showed that public investments will be channeled toward key priority sectors—particularly human capital development, food security, infrastructure, climate and disaster resilience, and digital transformation. "In crafting the proposed FY 2027 budget, the government is confronted with a very narrow fiscal space—further constrained by funding pressures from automatically appropriated items, such as the National Tax Allotment shares of LGUs and interest payments, as well as the requirements of newly-enacted laws and recurrent mandatory expenditures," according to the Budget chief. The Philippine budget process starts with the President and the Cabinet secretaries submitting their proposed appropriations under the NEP. The NEP, the national government's spending plan for a coming fiscal year, serves as the basis for the General Appropriations Bill (GAB). Congress endorses the approved version to the President for signing, which will then become the General Appropriations Act (GAA). During budget deliberations, lawmakers may introduce adjustments as long as they stay within the prescribed ceiling. — VDV, GMA News