Vic Rodriguez, Ungab, others ask SC to declare 2025 budget unconstitutional

Former executive secretary and senatorial aspirant Vic Rodriguez, Davao City 3rd District Representative Isidro Ungab, and others have asked the Supreme Court (SC) to declare the 2025 national budget as unconstitutional amid alleged irregularities and supposed blank items in the bicameral conference committee report.

In a 25-page petition for certiorari and prohibition filed Monday, they asked the High Court to declare Republic Act (RA) 12116 or the General Appropriations Act of Fiscal Year 2025 as unconstitutional.

The petitioners are Rodriguez, Ungab, Rogelio Mendoza, Benito Ching Jr., Redemberto Villanueva, Roseller dela Peña, Santos Catubay, and Dominic Solis.

Meanwhile, named respondents are the House of Representatives, as represented by Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez; the Senate of the Philippines, as represented by Senate President Francis Escudero; and Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin.

The petitioners raised four main arguments against the legality of the 2025 budget, namely for violating the provisions of the 1987 Constitution related to:

• protecting and promoting the right to health, in relation to the Universal Health Care Act
• rules on increasing appropriations recommended by the President for government operations as specified in budget
• assigning the highest budgetary priority to education
• presentation of bills passed by Congress to the President

The petitioners asserted that removing PhilHealth's budget from the 2025 GAA would have "adverse effects" on the pursued system reforms under the Universal Health Care Act.

"Worse, PhilHealth will be in no position to provide enhanced health benefits in accordance with UHCA's mandate and thus, would be violative of the constitutional right to health of all Filipinos," the petition read.

Contrary to law, petitioners said, Congress "realigned the proposed appropriations per the 2025 NEP which, in effect, increased the proposed budget appropriations for Congress and other line agencies."

On the budgeting of education resources, petitioners said the 2025 GAA "forced the inclusion of unrelated line agencies in the education sector's budget to give it the appearance compliance with the constitutional mandate."

As for the supposed blank items, they said, "Clearly, the Bicameral Conference Committee committed grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction when it signed the committee report on the 2025 National Budget filled with blanks."

Last week, former President Rodrigo Duterte and Ungab flagged discrepancies in the bicameral conference committee report. Ungab said there were missing budget amounts for items under the Department of Agriculture and unprogrammed appropriations.

Too soon

On the part of Malacañang, Bersamin said it was too soon to comment on the petition.

"I have yet to be served. Hence, I have not seen the contents. After that, the comment will be through the [Solicitor General]," he said.

Bersamin earlier said that the Office of the President would not be held liable if the issue of the supposed blank items would be brought to the SC.

GMA News Online has also requested comment from Romualdez regarding the development, but he has yet to reply as of posting time.

Meanwhile, acting House appropriations panel chairperson Stella Quimbo expressed belief that the ratification of the corrected bicameral report is unnecessary.

"This is simply because Omnibus Provision 2 of the Report, which was ratified by the members, allows for the possibility of corrections, within limits stated in Omnibus Provision 1 (typographical errors and adjustments as a consequence of amendments)," she said.

Quimbo earlier confirmed that there were blank items in the bicameral report, but asserted that funding for these items had been identified before the signing of the report.

Part of democracy

In a press conference, Senate President Francis "Chiz" Escudero welcomed the petition, saying this gives the Judiciary—the third branch of the government—to participate in the budgetary process.

"Para sa akin hindi ito dapat katakutan, hindi ito dapat ikabahala. Ito'y bahagi ng ating demokrasya at patunay ito na malakas at matatag ang demokrasya sa ating bansa patungkol sa anumang batas kabilang na ang national budget," the Senate chief said.

(For me, there's no need to fear this petition. We should not be worried about this. This is part of democracy and this just proves that the democracy in the country is strong.)

Escudero reiterated that the bicameral conference committee report on the 2025 budget has a provision that allows the committee on appropriations and finance to "correct and fill" items that might have been overlooked.

"Pero sa total nandoon ['yung amounts]. Kaya nga otorisadong mag-correct, 'di ba? Kaya otorisadong punuan kung may mali dahil nga 'yung totals nandu'n," he said.

(The amounts are in the total. That's why they are authorized to correct and fill the entries that are wrong because the totals are there.)

He said this is not the first time that this provision was included in the bicameral conference committee report.

For Escudero, the issue on the budget arose because of the current political situation in the country.

"Marahil ang pagkakaiba dahil sa tindi ng bangayan, at away at hidwaan sa pagitan ng mga politika, kulay ng politika sa ngayon kaya bawat isang bagay pinapadaan nila ika nga sa microscope o sa matinding ilaw pero hindi nangangahulugan na hindi rin 'yan nangyari noon," he said.

(These issues arise because of the intense bickering between politicians and camps of different political colors. Everything is under the microscope or in the spotlight. But that doesn't mean that it didn't happen before.)

Rodriguez posted several pages of the submitted petition on his Facebook account, highlighting supposed blanks in the budget.

"Ilegal ang magpasa ng budget na puno ng blanko at kriminal ang sinuman makikialam at magpupuno ng mga halagang sadyang iniwang blanko ng mga mambabatas," Rodriguez and Ungab said in a statement.

(It is illegal to pass a budget full of blanks, and anyone who will interfere to fill up what was deliberately left blank is a criminal.)

"Ito ay malinaw na falsification of legislative document," they added.

(This is clearly a falsification of a legislative document.) — with a report from Hana Bordey, Anna Felicia Bajo, and Llanesca T. Panti/ VDV, GMA Integrated News