MANILA: On Monday (Jul 29), the Philippines’ budget ministry announced a 256.1 billion pesos (US$4.38 billion) defense budget for 2025, marking a 6.4% increase from the current year’s allocation. This boost aims to support the country’s efforts to modernize its military and enhance external defenses.
The proposed increase in defence spending comes at a time of growing tensions with Beijing over territorial disputes in the South China Sea, which China mostly claims as its own.
The defence budget, accounts for 4.0 per cent of the government’s proposed 6.35 trillion pesos spending plan for 2025, which the budget ministry submitted to Congress on Monday for approval.
Of the total defence budget, 204.4 billion pesos will go to land, air forces and naval forces defence programmes, the budget ministry said, while 50 billion pesos will help fund the armed forces’ revised modernisation plan, which reflected a shift in strategy away from internal to external defence.
The planned defence spending is dedicated to “uphold our sovereignty and territorial integrity”, Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman, told lawmakers.
