President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Monday called out his predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, for “lying” and making false and baseless allegations of blank items in the 2025 budget.
“He’s lying,” Mr. Marcos said in an interview.
“He’s a former President. He knows that you cannot pass a GAA (General Appropriations Act) with blank (items).”
“In the entire history of the Philippines, it has never been allowed for an item in the GAA to lack details on the project, the expenses, or the funding,” he added.
Duterte and Davao City Rep. Isidro Ungab earlier raised concerns over alleged discrepancies in the bicameral conference committee report on the national budget.
Duterte said the GAA was signed with multiple items left blank, likening it to giving the government a blank check that is “invalid and unenforceable.”
Ungab pointed out missing budget allocations for items under the Department of Agriculture as well as unprogrammed appropriations.
The 2025 GAA, signed into law last December, contains detailed appropriations for government projects, programs, and activities across its 4,057 pages, Mr. Marcos said.
He said the budget measure underwent exhaustive review by Congress and the Department of Budget and Management to ensure transparency and accuracy.
“There’s a copy available on the DBM website. Look it up, and check for any so-called blank checks. You’ll see that there’s none. This will prove my point that it’s all lies. Look for the so-called blank check. See if there’s even one,” President Marcos said.
Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, for his part, said peddlers of disinformation should be held accountable.
“The peddling of such fake news is outrightly malicious and should be condemned as criminal. No page of the 2025 National Budget was left unturned before the President signed it into law,” Bersamin said.
“The true facts and the printed figures appearing in the GAA easily debunk the malicious claims of deliberate blanks being left for filling in. It is impossible for any portion of the budget to have been left blank,” he added.
Bersamin said anyone who thoroughly examines the budget would find no programs, activities, or projects with blank appropriations.
“The former president and his cohorts should know better that the GAA should not contain blank items,” Bersamin said.
The Budget department added: “These allegations are completely false and reckless. What has been presented by certain misinformed individuals are pages from the Bicameral Conference (Bicam) Committee Report, and not the General Appropriations Bill (GAB) nor the GAA.”
“It is the GAB, with all its details, that is controlling, and is presented to the President. Once signed, the GAB becomes the Law— the GAA,” the department said.
Editor’s Note: This is an updated article. Originally posted with the headline “Marcos flags Duterte ‘lies’ on 2025 national budget.”