President Marcos is convinced that there were no blank items in the 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA), saying he has reviewed the law front to back and did not find any.

Marcos said this as he graced the 20th National Convention of Lawyers in Cebu City on Thursday morning, Jan. 30.

In his speech, the President said he thoroughly examined the GAA and found no blank items as alleged by his critics.

"Just last month, I had to read 4,057 pages of the General Appropriations Act for 2025. Because I reviewed it, analyzed it, and yes—in parts, vetoed it. So for those of you, and up to now, I can't find those damned blank items," he said.

"We'll keep looking, we'll keep looking. But I really am convinced that they simply do not exist because it is not allowed to exist," he added.

With this, Marcos assured the public that the Office of the President (OP) was doing its job well.

"So for those of you who think that the presidency is just handshakes and photo ops, I assure you that fine print is alive in my office as well," he said.

'Our case is strong'

Meanwhile, in an interview in Lapu-Lapu City, President Marcos expressed confidence that the government is on a "solid footing" regarding the constitutionality of the 2025 budget.

"SolGen Maynard (Solicitor General Menardo Guevara), tells me that we are on a solid footing in terms of constitutionality. I don't know why they (critics) bothered to file that because napakahirap ng kanilang assertion (their assertion is very difficult)," he said.

"We'll let the SolGen make the argument before the Supreme Court. We're very confident that our case is strong," he added.

However, if by chance the Supreme Court ruled in favor of his critics, Marcos said the government would be forced to shut down as there are no contingencies.

"We shut down everything. I guess that's what they want," he said.

"They want the government to cease working. So matuloy yung kanilang mga destabilization na ginagawa (They would carry out their destabilization plot)," he added.

Last week, Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin said Malacañang had nothing to do with the so-called "blank pages" in the bicameral conference committee report on the 2025 national budget.

"We resented the impression that the President was given a blank check," he said.

Bersamin categorically denied the claims and called them "fake news". He likewise accused the President's critics of trying to falsely implicate him for filling in these blank pages.

The former Chief Justice further clarified the Executive Branch "did not benefit at all from the blank spaces that are being circulated."

Earlier, President Marcos also refuted the claims, saying it was impossible for the budget to be passed with blank items.

The former Chief Justice urged the public to ask Congress about the issue.

"Gusto kong malaman ng taumbayan na wala talaga kaming kinalaman diyan (I just want to inform the public that we had nothing to do with it)," Bersamin said.

"Tanungin ninyo ang mga congressmen, mga senators (Ask the congressmen and senators). And that is all that we can say at this point," he added.