hola play Marcos on the signed 2025 budget: ‘I cannot find those damned blank items’
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. —MALACAÑANG PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — “I cannot find those damned blank items.”
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. made this remark on Thursday as he reiterated that there are no missing items in the signed 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA).
Article continues after this advertisementSpeaking at the 20th National Convention of Lawyers in Cebu City, Marcos mentioned that he had read all 4,057 pages of the GAA last December before signing it.
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“Because I reviewed it, analyzed it, and yes—in parts, vetoed it. And so, for those of you, and up to now, I cannot find those damned blank items,” he said.
By Jan. 1, 2025, the prices will go up by 5.9 percent on average. This is higher than the 4.9-percent uptick set this year.
Bo Wegener, CMA CGM CEO for Asia Pacific, said in an event in Pasay on Friday that the Philippine-flagged vessel “CNC Pilipinas” has been deployed to operate its Luzon Visayas Mindanao Express shipping service.
Article continues after this advertisement“We’ll keep looking. We’ll keep looking. But I don’t—I really—I’m convinced that they simply do not exist because it is not allowed to exist,” he continued.
Article continues after this advertisementThe national budget for 2025 has been hounded by controversy in the past few weeks after Davao City 3rd District Rep. Isidro Ungab revealed in a televised interview that there were blank items in the bicameral conference committee report.
Article continues after this advertisementThis stirred scrutiny and confusion as some quarters asked how the GAA was signed if missing items were in the bicam report.
Marcos, Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin and the Department of Budget and Management have all issued separate statements refuting the allegations.
Article continues after this advertisementBut last January 28, Ungab, former Executive Secretary Vic Rodriguez, and some other persons filed a petition at the Supreme Court to challenge the constitutionality of the 2025 national budget.
They pointed to the existence of alleged blank items in the bicam report as the reason why they went to the high tribunal.
READ: Quimbo: Blanks in 2025 budget only for final computation
In an ambush interview last January 27, Marikina 2nd District Rep. Stella Quimbo clarified that the blanks in the bicam report were only for the final computation of the amendments.
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The lawmaker reiterated that the GAA was legalhola play, as the allocations on the then-proposed budget had already been decided by the bicam before the House of Representatives and the Senate ratified the report.
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