MANILA, Philippines 鈥� Two senators said on Tuesday it was not possible for certain items in the 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA) to be left blank, as doing so would cause an imbalance in the national budget bill.
Speaking to reporters in an ambush interview, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said the chairman of finance would not sign the bill if it had missing provisions.
His remarks came after he was asked to comment on former President Rodrigo Duterte鈥檚 allegation that some items in the 2025 GAA were left blank, as the amounts were supposedly meant to be filled out at the behest of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and his close associates.
READ: Marcos slams Duterte 鈥榣ies鈥� on items in budget law
鈥淚f it鈥檚 left blank, it won鈥檛 be balanced. The budget needs to be balanced. For example, the House amendments, the Senate amendments, and of course, the final product, the GAA, must all be balanced. What I鈥檓 thinking is, if it鈥檚 blank, it won鈥檛 be balanced; that鈥檚 number one,鈥� said Gatchalian partly in Filipino.
He was then pressed to answer whether some items could not be left blank.
鈥淎s far as I know, the chairman cannot sign a blank document. When I was chairman of another committee, whenever a committee report was submitted to me, I would read it thoroughly, even the very annexes, to make sure everything was complete. I believe that the chairman would not sign a blank document,鈥� he explained.
Gatchalian then stood his ground, stating that he and his team did not see a single blank item in the 2025 budget bill.
Meanwhile, in a separate ambush interview, Sen. Joel Villanueva echoed Gatchalian鈥檚 remarks.
鈥淚鈥檝e never heard of any blank bicam report. I鈥檝e never heard anything like that, and it鈥檚 kind of weird every time I hear people talking about the constitutionality of such a committee report because when you question the constitutionality of such a measure, it鈥檚 the law itself, not the report,鈥� said Villanueva.
When asked if he had seen any blank items in the 2025 budget bill, he firmly replied that he had not.
鈥淚 haven鈥檛 seen any. To my knowledge, there are none,鈥� said Villanueva.
鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to believe that it鈥檚 blank because it wouldn鈥檛 tally, and at the same time, that law can鈥檛 be passed with blanks. That鈥檚 my perspective,鈥� he added.
Earlier, President Marcos himself refuted the allegations made by Duterte surrounding the 2025 budget.
鈥淗e鈥檚 lying. He鈥檚 a [former] president, he knows that you cannot pass a GAA with a blank,鈥� he told reporters after the launch of the Tesla Center Philippines.