THE House of Representatives will prioritize the approval of the 2025 national budget in the third regular session of the 19th Congress, Speaker Martin Romualdez said.

The Congress will open its third and final regular session on July 22, ahead of the President's State of the Nation Address (SONA).

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. plans to propose a P6.2-trillion budget for 2025. The 2024 budget was P5.768 trillion.

Interviewed last Friday after he witnessed the Department of Labor and Employment's distribution of financial aid under the agency's Tulong Panghanapbuhay Para sa Ating Disadvantaged at Displaced Workers in Tiaong, Quezon, Romualdez said Congress would continue to fund Tupad in 2025.

All appropriations bills originate in the House, with the Senate proposing or concurring with amendments.

The Constitution mandates the President to submit to Congress within 30 days from the opening of a regular session "the basis of the general appropriations bill, a budget of expenditures and sources of financing, including receipts from existing and proposed revenue measures."

The next Congress will start its first regular session in 2025 after the May elections.