Marcos seeks $118 billion budget for 2027 amid slowdown and scandal
Philippine President Marcos proposes a 7.2 trillion-peso ($118 billion) 2027 budget, up 6%, with education, healthcare, and agriculture cuts, while infrastructure and defence rise.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Tuesday asked Congress to approve a 7.2 trillion-peso ($118.1 billion) national budget for 2027, a 6% increase over this year's spending plan. The proposal comes as the government tries to regain momentum after the economy posted its weakest quarterly growth since 2021 and as a corruption scandal continues to hamper infrastructure projects.
The economy expanded just 2.3% in the second quarter from a year earlier, dragged down by a slump in construction and softer domestic demand. That brought first-half growth to 2.6%, well below the government's annual target of 3.5% to 4.5%.
The proposed spending plan is equivalent to 21.7% of gross domestic product, according to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM). Education remains the largest allocation at 1.15 trillion pesos, though that is 11.5% lower than this year's 1.3 trillion pesos. Healthcare funding is set at 353.8 billion pesos, a 21% drop from 448.1 billion pesos, while agriculture gets 261.7 billion pesos, down 13% from nearly 300 billion pesos.
In contrast, the Department of Public Works and Highways—the focus of an infrastructure irregularities scandal—would receive 644 billion pesos, up 22% from the 530 billion pesos allocated for 2026. This year, the agency's budget was cut by about 40% from a proposed 881 billion pesos amid the allegations.
Defence spending is proposed to rise 7.6% to 328.8 billion pesos from 305.5 billion pesos. The DBM said 316 billion pesos, or nearly four-fifths of the increase in next year's budget, would cover mandatory obligations such as salary adjustments for military and uniformed personnel.
Budget Secretary Kim Robert De Leon told a press conference that the government expects total disbursements of 6.9 trillion pesos in 2027 against projected revenues of 5.2 trillion pesos, leaving a fiscal deficit of 1.7 trillion pesos to be financed through borrowing. The government has set a GDP growth target of 5.0% to 6.0% for 2027 to 2030.