Escudero: Bicam report on 2025 budget had no blank items

Senate President Francis "Chiz" Escudero on Wednesday refuted allegations raised by the camp of former President Rodrigo Duterte that the bicameral conference committee report on the 2025 national budget had blank items, making the General Appropriations Act "invalid."

"Anuman 'yung pinapakita niyang committee report o diumanong bicameral conference committee report... hindi ko nakikita 'yung pirma ko dun so hindi ko alam kung ano yun," Escudero said, referring to the documents that were shared by Davao City 3rd District Representative Isidro Ungab.

(Whatever he is showing as the bicameral conference committee report, I don't see my signature there so I don't know what that is.)

Asked if the bicameral conference committee report that Escudero signed had blank items, the Senate President said, "wala [none]."

"Hindi tama na mag-akusang may blank check na binigay ang Kongreso, mali yun. Kasinungalingan yun at hindi totoo yun," Escudero said.

(It's not right to claim that Congress has given a blank check. That is a lie and not true.)

According to Escudero, the bicameral conference committee report on the 2025 budget, which he signed, has a provision that allows the committee on appropriations and finance to "correct and fill" items that might have been overlooked, noting that there are 200,000 line items in the budget measure.

The bicam report also contained a provision that states that "if there are differences in the [General Appopriations Act] and the bicameral conference committee report, the enrolled copy of the General Appopriations Act will be followed," Escudero said.

Amid these allegations, Escudero, a lawyer, stressed that the version of the budget that could only be questioned is the one that was enacted and signed by the President.

"Ang batas ay yung pinirmahan na enrolled copy nung bill ng Pangulo. Yun ang pwedeng kwestiyunin dahil sa tinagal tagal kong abogado, wala pa yata akong nabalitaan na pinadeklarang iligal at unconstitutional na committee report," he said.

(The law is the enrolled copy of the bill that was signed by the President. That is the one that may be questioned. In all the time I've been a lawyer, I don't think I've heard of a committee report that was declared illegal and unconstitutional.)

At least three senators have denied that there were blank items in the bicam report on the 2025 national budget.

However, Senator Imee Marcos—who was part of of the bicam on the 2025 national budget, but was absent during the signing of the report—insisted that there were indeed blank items in the bicam report.

"'Yun ang dahilan kung bakit umalma nga ako at tuluyan na hindi ako pumirma kasi natatakot ako sa mga blangko blangko at kulang kulang na mga datos," Marcos said.

(That is why I objected and ultimately did not sign, because I was afraid of all the blanks and the missing information.)

"Kagulat-gulat 'yung bicam, kung bakit nakalusot na may mga blangkong amounts," she said.

(It's surprising that these blanks slipped through the bicam.)

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. on Monday said Duterte was lying about the supposed discrepancies in the 2025 national budget.

Malacañang on Monday also denounced the allegations made by Duterte, saying that the allegations made should be dismissed as ''criminal.''

Duterte and Ungab flagged supposed discrepancies in the bicameral conference committee report on the national budget, with Ungab saying that there were missing budget amounts for items under the Department of Agriculture and unprogrammed appropriations.

Ungab said the blanks could not be considered a typographical, grammatical, or printing error.

Duterte, for his part, said the budget items should not be left empty to be filled up later on. According to the former president, anyone who tampered with the budget could face criminal prosecution. — BM, GMA Integrated News