DAVAO City Third District Representative Isidro C. Ungab said it is high time they bring the 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA) issue to the Supreme Court (SC), particularly regarding the blank items in the Bicameral Report.
“It is high time that we bring the matter to the Supreme Court for them to adjudicate, ma-desisyunan nila kung ano ang adjudication or decision sa mga ibibigay natin na data at facts about sa ating division (It is high time that we bring the matter to the Supreme Court for them to adjudicate. They would make a decision based on the data and facts we provide about our division),” Ungab said during the Basta Dabawenyo Podcast on Thursday, January 30, 2025.
Earlier, Lawyer Vic Rodriguez, Ungab, and others asked the SC to declare the 2025 budget unconstitutional. The 25-page petition for certiorari and prohibition was filed on Monday, January 27, 2025.
Ungab said that the group of lawyers led by Rodriguez has studied the legality, constitutionality, validity, and other issues surrounding the 2025 GAA, including the data he provided and the concerns he raised.
He emphasized that the most significant issue he has been highlighting is how the budget for the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has overtaken the budget for the Department of Education (DepEd), even though the 1987 Constitution stipulates that the largest investment in the country should be in the education sector.
Meanwhile, former House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez described what is happening in Congress as "irregular," adding that this is the first time in his service as a Congressman that such an issue has arisen. He said that he and previous House speakers did not interfere with the budget approved by the plenary.
Alvarez said that evidence has been gathered showing that the Bicameral Report contains multiple blank items. He questioned how these blanks were filled in the enrolled bill.
"So saan nila niyari ito, sa printing, doon nangyayari iyan pinakealaman nila ang printing hindi sinunod kung ano ang inaprove ng plenary (So, where did this happen? It occurred during the printing stage. That is where they altered what was approved by the plenary)," he said.
Alvarez further said that when the bill reached Malacañang, it was already completed, which he believes is inappropriate. The enrolled bill should reflect what was approved by the plenary. He emphasized that only the House Speaker, the chairman of the appropriations committee, or the secretary general has the authority to change the bill. He stressed that if the Bicameral Report had blanks and the committee approved the bill despite those blanks, then the enrolled bill should also have had blanks. He pointed out that when he was Speaker, such irregularities would never have occurred, as this is a criminal act.
Following the filing of the complaint to the SC, Alvarez expressed confidence in the functioning of the government’s systems, particularly the judiciary, and is hoping that they would not be afraid of the administration, unlike other agencies.
Ungab added that the SC would immediately take action on their complaint, as they have "very high trust in the judiciary." He explained that this was the only recourse they could take, given that the bill had already been signed by the president.
Alvarez expressed that if the bill is declared null and void, government operations would not cease, as a reenacted budget would be put in place to prioritize government operations. He also revealed that there is a possibility that the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) would withhold the release of the budget.
In response to Representative Stella Quimbo's statement acknowledging the blanks in the report, Ungab said that if there are blanks with predetermined amounts, those amounts should have been filled in. He also highlighted the omnibus motion, which stipulates that technical staff are permitted to make corrections for grammatical, typographical, and printing errors.
"Yung pag fill up ng blank items that is no longer grammatical or typographical and printing errors. Yung pag fill up ng blank items is no longer grammatical or typographical you are practically putting a substantial amount in what could have been zero or blank (Filling up the blank items is no longer a matter of correcting grammatical, typographical, or printing errors. By filling in the blanks, you're practically putting a substantial amount where there could have been zero or a blank)," he said.
Alvarez stressed the importance of the Bicameral Report, saying that since the Congress and Senate have different versions of the budget, the report reconciles those differences. He insisted that what is agreed upon in the report should be reflected in the enrolled bill. Therefore, if the Bicameral Report is blank, the GAA should also be blank. Ungab echoed this point, stating that it would not be possible to create an enrolled bill without the Bicameral Report.
He said that, according to the law, someone should be held accountable for the blank items in the Bicameral Report that were filled in the GAA.
He called on the president to "wake up," claiming that the president is being misled by his allies and that the president would not want to be perceived as foolish by the public.
To recall, former DBM Secretary Wendel Avisado had asked the House of Representatives to clarify the blanks in the Bicameral Report. On January 18, 2025, Ungab and former President Rodrigo Duterte raised concerns about missing figures in the Bicameral Report, particularly in sections related to the Department of Agriculture (DA) and unprogrammed appropriations, which reportedly involved billions of pesos.
In response, President Marcos refuted Duterte’s allegations in a statement on January 20, 2025, calling them "lies" and insisting that such discrepancies could not occur in the GAA. He pointed out that, throughout Philippine history, the GAA has always detailed project expenses and funding. The president also said that budget details are available on the DBM website for public review. RGP