3 senators deny there were blank entries in 2025 budget bicam report

Three senators on Tuesday denied that the bicameral conference committee report on the 2025 national budget had blank entries as claimed by former President Rodrigo Duterte.

Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada said he doesn't think that it is possible for the bicam report to contain blank entries.

"I don't think so," Estrada said in an ambush interview.

"Wala akong napansin," he added.

(I didn't notice anything.)

Senators Sherwin Gatchalian and Joel Villanueva, who were both part of the bicameral conference committee on the 2025 General Appropriations Bill, said  there were no blank entries in the report.

"Sa akin and my team wala kaming nakitang blangko kasi dapat balanse. Yun ang tinitignan naming parati. So I have a whole team na tinitignan yung budget bago ko pinipirmahan," Gatchalian told reporters in a separate interview.

(My team and I didn't see any blanks because it has to be balanced. It's what we were always monitoring. I have a whole team that looks through the budget before I sign.)

"Kasi kung blangko, hindi magbabalanse eh. Kailangan balanse ang budget eh. For example, 'yung House amendments, 'yung Senate amendments and of course, 'yung final product 'yung GAA [General Apporpriations Act] dapat balanse 'yan. Ang iniisip ko kung blangko 'yan, hindi magbabalanse, that’s number one," the vice chairman of Senate committee on finance said.

(It couldn't be balanced with blanks. The budget must be balanced. For example, the House amendments, the Senate amendments, and of course the final product, the GAA, must be balanced.)

For his part, Villanueva said that the document that he signed was a "full bicameral conference committee report."

"Lahat nandoon [at] may mga items tayong nakita... I, for one, would say na...wala akong nakitang blangko or whatsoever," he said.

(It was all there. I for one would say that I saw no blanks whatsoever.)

"Ang hirap paniwalaan noong blangko kasi hindi magta-tally talaga and at the same time, hindi maaaring ipasa ang batas na 'yun, nang blangko. 'Yun ang aking pananaw," he added.

(It's hard to believe there would be blanks because then it wouldn't tally and at the same time, that law cannot be passed with blanks. That is my view.)

While he made the remark, Villanueva said he is not closing his doors to the "rumors" on some items in the 2025 national budget.

"Kung totoo man 'yung sinasabi na may mga blanko, siguro ang maaari o posibleng mangyari is lump sum o may lump sum. So ako, until now, ang call ko palagi is break down these lump sum items at ipakita kung saan talaga ito pupunta," Villanueva said.

(If it is true that there are blanks, they could be lump sums, or there are lump sums. So my call as always is to break down these lump sum items and show where the funds are going.)

Gatchalian and Villanueva were both present during the bicam's signing of the report on the 2025 national budget.

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. on Monday said Duterte was lying about the supposed discrepancies in the 2025 national budget.

Malacañang on Monday also denounced the allegations made by Duterte, saying that the allegations made should be dismissed as ''criminal.''

Duterte and Ungab flagged supposed discrepancies in the bicameral conference committee report on the national budget, with Ungab saying that there were missing budget amounts for items under the Department of Agriculture and unprogrammed appropriations.

Ungab said the blanks could not be considered a typographical, grammatical, or printing error.

Duterte, for his part, said the budget items should not be left empty to be filled up later on. According to the former president, anyone who tampered with the budget could face criminal prosecution.

In a Facebook post, Senator Imee Marcos, who was part of the bicam on the 2025 national budget, but was absent during the signing of the report, said that her brother and the former president are talking about two different budget documents.

"Ang merong blangko ay 'yung bicam. 'Yung GAA naman ang alam ko inayos na ng Congress," she said. — BM, GMA Integrated News