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VOL. XXXVIII • NO. 319 • 3 SECTIONS 16 PAGES • P20 • TUESDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2024 A HOUSE UNITED. President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. joins a groupie yesterday with Senate and House lawmakers led by Senate President Francis Escudero and House Speaker Martin Romualdez after signing the P6.326 trillion 2025 national budget at Malacanang Palace. PCO
PBBM trims 2025 budget to P6.32-t
Vetoes P194-b line items, keeps AKAP By Charles Dantes, Ralph Harvey Rirao and Maricel Cruz
P
RESIDENT Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. signed the P6.326-trillion General Appropriations Act (GAA) for 2025 yesterday, vetoing P194 billion worth of line items and imposing conditions for the implementation of the social protection program “Ayuda sa Kapos ang Kita Program” or AKAP. The signed GAA trimmed the ini- outlay following the veto of several line tially proposed P6.352 trillion spending items deemed inconsistent with the ad-
What caused South Korea’s most deadly plane crash? SE OU L —T h e aviation disas2nd Jeju plane suffers emergency landing ter on home soil, of Jeju Air Flight Agence France landing gear problem 2216 looked highly Presse takes a WORLD / A6 skilled, experts say, look at what could but all except two have gone wrong: of the 181 people on What happened? board were killed when the Boeing 737The flight from Bangkok to south800 hit a wall and burst into flames. As South Korean investigators probe western Muan International Airport in the causes of the country’s worst-ever Next page
ministration’s priority programs. He vetoed P26.065 billion worth of projects under the Department of Public Works and Highways and P168.240 billion listed under “Unprogrammed Appropriations.” With the veto of certain items under the DPWH, the education sector now has the constitutionally mandated lion’s share of the 2025 budget at P1.05 trillion. It was followed by the DPWH at P1.007 trillion; Department of National Next page
PH leaders stress lasting value of Rizal’s sacrifices BIRD STRIKE DATA. Statistics relating to bird strikes on planes, based on a 2023 report released by the International Civil Aviation Organization. AFP
Rains due to 3 weather systems to persist until New Year’s Day According to RAINS will conFirecracker injuries the Philippine tinue across sevAtmospheric, eral areas in the rise to 163, says DOH Geophysical and Philippines due NEWS / A4 Astronomical to the effects of Services Adminshear line, the Inistration (PAtertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) and the north- GASA), moderate to heavy rains today east monsoon (Amihan), the state will affect Cagayan, Apayao, Isabela, weather bureau said on Monday. Next page
CELEBRATING HEROISM. President Marcos lays a wreath at the monument of national hero Jose Rizal at the Rizal Park in remembrance of his heroism that sparked the 1898 revolution against imperial Spain. PCO
By Charles Dantes and Maricel V. Cruz
ago, on the day of his martyrdom. In his Rizal Day message, President Marcos called on Filipinos to reflect on PHILIPPINE leaders on Monday the hero’s contributions to the country’s pointed out how Dr. Jose Rizal’s cause history and freedom. is as relevant today as it was 128 years He described the national hero’s vi-
sion of a “just and forward-thinking society” as timeless, emphasizing that Rizal’s ideals remain as relevant today as they were over a century ago. “As we remember his noble works Next page
Gov’t may put up surrogate babies for adoption THE babies of 13 Philippine women pardoned and sent home by Cambodia after being convicted and jailed over an outlawed surrogate motherhood scheme may be put up for adoption, the government said Monday.
Ten pregnant Filipinas and three others with babies flew home to Manila on Sunday, three days after being pardoned by the Cambodian king, which nullified their four-year jail terms.
“The Cambodian government does not want the sale of the babies to those who transacted with our compatriots to be consummated,” Justice Undersecretary Nicholas Felix Ty said in an Next page
Jimmy Carter passes away; Marcos honors servant-leader By Charles Dantes and Rachelle Tonelada JAMES Earl Carter, Jr., or simply Jimmy Carter, the 100-year-old former US president and Nobel peace laureate who rose from humble beginnings in rural Georgia to lead the nation from 1977 to 1981, has died, his nonprofit foundation announced Sunday. Next page
Jimmy Carter