ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider 'Intriga eh, politika': Ortega brushes off ex-president Duterte's 'blank budget' claim

'Intriga eh, politika': Ortega brushes off ex-president Duterte's 'blank budget' claim

Published Jan 22, 2025 07:44 am

At A Glance

  • Deputy Majority Leader La Union 1st district Rep. Paolo Ortega V has dismissed as a product of "intrigue" and "politics" former president Rodrigo Duterte's allegation that the P6.352-trillion national budget for 2025 was passed off by solons as if it was a blank check.

20250122_154011.jpgLa Union 1st district Rep. Paolo Ortega (left), former president Rodrigo Duterte (PPAB)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A House leader has dismissed as a product of "intrigue" and "politics" former president Rodrigo Duterte's allegation that the P6.352-trillion national budget for 2025 was passed off by solons as if it was a blank check.

Deputy Majority Leader La Union 1st district Rep. Paolo Ortega V outright branded the allegation as false, even as he highlighted the current dynamics in national politics.

"You have to understand that sa national scene po natin, nakikita naman po natin na medyo may hindi pagkakaintindihan sa politika," he said.

(You have to understand that in our national scene, we see that there is a slight disagreement in politics.)

Ortega appeared to be alluding to the rift between President Marcos and Vice President Sara Duterte, who had a major falling out this past year despite starting out as political allies under the "UniTeam".

Vice President Duterte is the daughter of ex-president Duterte. The two are arguably the most influential critics of the Chief Executive, with the elder Duterte being mainly behind the "blank budget" claim.

"So yang mga konti po na pagakakataon na may makikita sila na hindi angkop sa gusto nila o sa ideology nila, eh minsan gagawin--intriga eh, politika. Minsan nahahaluan na rin ng fake news," Ortega said.

(So they will sow intrigue and politics in every little opportunity that they see something that they don't like or not in accordance with their idielogy. Sometimes fake news also get into the mix.)

"So sa tingin ko hindi naman po fair na yung mga ganung comments, 'blind approval', o blanko na budget yung inaaprove. Hindi po totoo yun at hindi po ganun magtrabaho yung mga kasama natin dito sa Kongreso, sa Senado at sa executive," said the member of the "Young Guns" bloc.

(So I don't think comments like 'blind approval' or that a blank budget was approved are fair. That is not true, and or colleagues in Congress, the Senate, and the executive don't work like that.)

This year's budget is the largest in the county's history. With his allegation, ex-president Duterte is insinuating that the spending plan--which lawmakers crafted---is full of irregularities. 

The 2025 budget was signed by President Marcos last Dec. 30.

Related Tags

National Budget Sara Duterte paolo Ortega Rodrigo Duterte
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.