Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero on Wednesday, January 22 rejected claims there were supposedly items in the P6.3-trillion General Appropriations Act of 2025 that were left blank.
In a press briefing at the Senate, Escudero said he found such claims preposterous considering that the documents that former President Rodrigo Duterte and some individuals have been peddling were not even the enrolled copy of the 2025 national budget bill.
Escudero also said that each of the items in the copy of the enrolled bill that he signed and which was sent to Malacañang for President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s approval had all been accounted for and none were left blank.
“Kumpleto ang batas na yun, walang blanko, walang kulang at yung amount ay nagsu-suma (That law is complete, there are no blanks, nothing missing and the amount all adds up),” Escudero told reporters.
“Unawain po ninyo, ang budget ay may humigit kumulang dalawang daang libong linya na may mga nakasulat na pamagat, titulo ng proyekto at amount. Hindi yun ganon kasimple na gawin o ginagawa (Please understand, that the budget has approximately 200,000 lines with written titles, project title and amount. It's not that simple to do or do),”
Escudero said he has no idea where the camp of Isidro Ungab, former chair of the House appropriations committee, got such a copy of a bicameral conference committee report allegedly filled with blank spaces.
“Kaya ang isa, kung mapapansin ninyo, yung pinakita nilang unang kopya na may pirma ako – kasi ang nakikita ko ngayon, wala na akong pirma. Kaya hindi ko alam kung saan galing yon (So one if you notice, the first copy they showed me with my signature – because the copy that I see now, don't have my signature. That’s why, I don't know where it came from)?” he pointed out.
Nevertheless, he said copies of the bicameral conference committee report can never be subjected to questions of unconstitutionality.
“Sa katunayan, wala pa yatang dinedemanda sa Korte para ideklarang unconstitutional ang isang committee report o bicameral conference committee report. Ang dinedeklarang unconstitutional ay batas (In fact, no one has yet been sued in Court to declare a committee report or bicameral conference committee report unconstitutional. Only a law can be declared unconstitutional),” he said.
Asked what he thinks could be the motive behind attempts to question the constitutionality of the 2025 GAA, Escudero said it all boils down to “politics.”
“Papalapit na eleksiyon. Ang kulay pulitika ay masyadong matingkad sa ngayon at siguro sa mga susunod na araw (Elections are fast approaching. The political color is very bright right now and maybe in the next few days),” the Senate chief added.
“Huwag na tayong magulat sa dagdag pang mga kwento, atake o pagpuna tulad nito dahil tila naglinyahan na sila buhangin kung sino ang sa kaliwa, sino ang sa kanan, sino ang sa pula at sino ang sa puti (Let's not be surprised by more stories, attacks or criticism like this because they seem to have lined the sand who is on the left, who is on the right, who is in red and who is in white),” he said.