Marcos Signs 2024 Philippine Budget That Boosts Defense Funding

(Bloomberg) -- Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Wednesday signed the 2024 national budget that allocates greater funding for defense and maritime security amid heightened tensions in the disputed South China Sea.

Most Read from Bloomberg

• S&P Logs Worst Day in Two Months, Bonds Power On: Markets Wrap

• The Hedge Fund Traders Dominating a Massive Bet on Bonds

• Trump Barred From Colorado Ballot in Unprecedented Ruling

• Apple Races to Tweak Software Ahead of Looming US Watch Ban

• Once Africa’s Richest Woman, Dos Santos Has $734 Million of Assets Frozen

Marcos enacted the 5.77-trillion peso ($103.5 billion) budget, which is 9.5% higher than the amount in 2023. The budget prioritizes food security and reduction of logistics costs, according to the president’s communications office, as the nation contends with elevated inflation and price risks from El Nino.

The budget “details our battle plan in fighting poverty and combating illiteracy and producing food and ending hunger and protecting our homes and securing our border,” Marcos said in a televised speech.

The final version of the budget bill includes an additional budget of 10.5 billion pesos to upgrade the nation’s defense capabilities and boost South China Sea presence, Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri earlier said in a statement. The Marcos administration has resisted China’s sweeping territorial claims in the disputed sea, ramping up military and coast guard missions in contested waters.

Marcos over the weekend said tensions in the South China Sea “have increased rather than diminished.” Manila, early this month, protested Chinese ships’ ramming and blasting of water cannons at Filipino vessels, the latest in a series of encounters in recent months.

Congress’ reconciled version of the budget also excluded confidential funds for Vice President Sara Duterte’s office and the Department of Education, which she also heads, the Philippine Daily Inquirer reported earlier this month.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

• The Most Secretive Longevity Lab Finally Opens Its Doors

• One Man’s Longevity Obsession Now Includes Fountain-of-Youth Injections

• Michael J. Fox and Sergey Brin Take Their Push for a Parkinson’s Cure to the Next Level

• Musk’s AI Chatbot ‘Grok’ Is Weirdly Good After All

• We Are So Not Ready for a Society Where Living to 100 Is Common

©2023 Bloomberg L.P.