MANILA – Marikina Rep. Stella Quimbo, acting chairperson of the House Appropriations Committee, on Monday said the 2025 General Appropriations Act is “lawful, valid, and fully enforceable”.
In a statement, Quimbo reiterated that the enrolled General Appropriation Bill contained no blank allocations among its more than 235,000 line items.
“The enrolled General Appropriations Bill is complete, with no blank allocations among its more than 235,000 line items,” she said.
Quimbo noted that the bicameral conference committee “explicitly” authorized the technical secretariats of both chambers of Congress to “implement corrections and adjustments as required”.
“These do not affect the integrity nor the legality of the budget,” Quimbo said.
Quimbo highlighted that all appropriations had been finalized before the bicameral committee members signed the report, and no changes were made afterward.
“When the members of the bicameral committee signed the report, all appropriations had already been determined and approved—no changes were made,” she said.
She said the enrolled bill had been made publicly available, demonstrating compliance with due process and transparency.
“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 (Everyone will see this. Nothing is being hidden),” Quimbo said.
Quimbo dismissed accusations of irregularities as baseless and politically driven.
“Any suggestion of impropriety is unfounded and appears to be politically motivated rather than prompted by genuinely substantive concerns,” she said.
She criticized efforts to misrepresent what she described as a routine administrative process, saying such actions only create unnecessary controversy instead of focusing on the country’s urgent issues.
“It is unfortunate that an administrative matter is being maliciously misconstrued to create controversy where there is none. 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,” she said.
On Friday, Malacañang denied any involvement in the alleged “blank” entries in the bicameral conference committee report on the 2025 national budget, following statements from Davao City Representative Isidro Ungab that he plans to challenge the budget before the Supreme Court (SC).
Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin said the Palace respects Ungab’s decision but emphasized the executive branch’s limited role in the process.
“Ang problema natin diyan is hindi kami ang mananagot diyan kung meron mang pagkukulang kasi bicam report iyan. Wala kaming kinalaman sa bicam report. Ang may kinalaman lang kami ay ‘yung finished product na pinirmahan ng Presidente (Our problem with that is that we are not responsible for any shortcomings because that is a bicam report. We have nothing to do with the bicam report. All we have to do is the finished product that the President signed),” Bersamin said in a recent briefing.
“Alisin natin sa consciousness na kami’y may kinalaman sa mga blank page na sinasabi ninyo (Let’s remove from consciousness that we have something to do with the blank pages you’re talking about),” he added.
Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman echoed Bersamin, saying the executive branch did not review the bicameral report that allegedly contained blank entries.
In a podcast interview with Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte, former president Rodrigo Duterte and Ungab claimed that at least 13 pages of the budget included items with blank appropriations.
Asked about the potential legal implications of a Supreme Court case, Bersamin described such concerns as “speculative,” adding that the Palace would wait to see the formal complaint.
“It is very wrong to blame President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.,” Bersamin said, reiterating that only Congress can address claims of blank items in the bicameral report.
“Gusto kong malaman ng taumbayan na wala kaming kinalaman diyan. Tanungin niyo ‘yung mga congressmen, yung mga senator (I want the people to know that we have nothing to do with that. Ask the congressmen, the senators),” he said. (PNA)