Quimbo: P6.325 trillion budget legal, bicam report contained correction

The proposed P6.325 trillion budget for 2025 is lawful and enforceable even as the Bicameral Conference Report had corrected/adjusted entries, acting House appropriations panel chairperson Stella Quimbo said Monday.

Quimbo, a Marikina City representative, said she issued the statement to reaffirm the statements made by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman and Senate President Francis Escudero.

These officials issued such statements after former President Rodrigo Duterte and his allies alleged that the President signed a defective budget bill for 2025 since it was based on a Bicameral Conference Report containing blank items.

"The Bicameral Report explicitly authorized the technical secretariats of both the Senate and the House of Representatives to implement corrections and adjustments as required. These do not affect the integrity nor the legality of the budget," Quimbo said.

"The 2025 General Appropriations Act is lawful, valid, and fully enforceable. The enrolled General Appropriations Bill [which the President signed into law] is complete, with no blank allocations among its more than 235,000 line items," Quimbo added.

When the members of the Bicameral Committee including herself signed the report, Quimbo said all appropriations had already been determined and approved, meaning no changes were made.

"The enrolled General Appropriations Bill has been made publicly available, providing the best evidence of its completeness and compliance with due process. Makikita po ng lahat ito. Walang tinatago," Quimbo said.

(You can see everything. There is nothing here.)

"Any suggestion of impropriety is unfounded and appears to be politically motivated rather than prompted by genuinely substantive concerns. It is unfortunate that an administrative matter is being maliciously misconstrued to create controversy where there is none," Quimbo added.

In closing, Quimbo said discussions on the matter should end given the comprehensive explanation.

"This matter has been sufficiently explained, and at a time when we face far real and urgent national challenges, it would be more productive to focus our efforts on addressing the legitimately pressing needs of our people," Quimbo added.

Duterte and Davao City 3rd District Representative Isidro Ungab earlier flagged discrepancies in the bicameral conference committee report on the recently approved 2025 national budget.

Ungab said there were missing budget amounts for items under the Department of Agriculture and unprogrammed appropriations.

Reacting to Ungab's findings, Duterte said that budget items should not be left empty “to be filled up later on.''

Marcos then said Duterte was "lying" when he made the allegations.

''He’s lying. He’s a president, he knows that you cannot pass a GAA without any – with a blank… He’s lying,'' Marcos said.

Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin said Duterte and other individuals' move was an act of peddling misinformation.

Last Dec. 30, Marcos signed into law the proposed national budget for fiscal year 2025 after vetoing some items from the proposed bill. —KG, GMA Integrated News