Senator Imee Marcos stated on Tuesday, January 6, that despite efforts to make the bicameral conference committee (bicam) open to public scrutiny, some agreements were reached while deliberations were suspended.

In a television interview on ANC, Marcos, who's a member of the minority bloc, acknowledged that there was a “real effort” by Nueva Ecija 1st District Rep. Mikaela Angela “Mika” Suansing and Senator Sherwin Gatchalian to promote transparency through online postings and livestreaming of the Bicam proceedings.

However, she said there were also frequent suspensions, postponements, whispered side discussions, and instances when the livestream was turned off for long periods.

“Kung nanood kayo, di ba napakahaba ng mga suspension, postponement, bulungan, papatayin muna yung livestream (If you watched, you’d see how long the suspensions and postponements were, with whispered side discussions and the livestream being turned off),” Marcos said, adding that the repeated phone calls during deliberations were particularly alarming.

She said they were often “aghast” when sessions resumed, as agreements appeared to have already been reached off-camera. Marcos questioned whether these calls reflected “orders from on high.”

She pointed to what she described as redundant and unexplained funding items that emerged during the bicam process, citing the P10-billion Presidential Assistance to Farmers and Fisherfolk (PAFF), which she said appeared “out of nowhere.”

According to Marcos, this item was not part of the original budget and surfaced only during bicam deliberations.

“Huwag nilang sasabihin walang insertion sa bicam (They should not claim that there were no insertions in the BICAM),” she said, stressing that the measure had been previously agreed to focus assistance through existing programs such as the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations (AICS).

Marcos warned that the proliferation of overlapping aid programs would only create confusion, particularly in agriculture, where questions remain over who exactly would benefit. She cited uncertainties over whether assistance would be limited to rice farmers under the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA) or extended to fisherfolk, who she said are often poorer.

She also flagged the sharp increase in AICS funding, which she said ballooned to P64 billion from P27 billion during Bicam deliberations. While noting that she herself had promoted AICS because of its benefits, Marcos said the more than doubling of its budget, amounting to a 250 percent increase, raised concerns about where the funds would go.

She said the program had been used politically in the last election, prompting fears it could again be leveraged in future elections or even in the context of impeachment.

Asked whether she viewed these developments as a concession by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to lawmakers in the House of Representatives, Marcos said the “extraordinary, humongous amounts” involved compelled closer scrutiny.

She also questioned why funding for urgently needed infrastructure, such as subways, trains, ports, and airports, critical to tourism and trade, was sidelined.

"In fact, we are gouging our government corporations, ang PDIC, yung PhilHealth, GSIS, SSS, talaga naman, yung Landbank at DBP nananagilid na sa flood control loans, lahat niyan we are gouging with ano yung sinasabi nila, their 'malalaking reserve' (In fact, we are gouging our government corporations—PDIC, PhilHealth, GSIS, SSS, and even Landbank and DBP, which are already struggling with flood control loans. We are really gouging all of them with what they call their 'large reserves')," Marcos said.