Kabataan Party-list Representative Raoul Manuel alleged on Wednesday that the bicameral conference committee report on the proposed 2025 national budget contained 12 blank entries. These covered nine agriculture-related programs and two unprogrammed appropriations, a claim that echoes an earlier statement by Davao City 3rd District Representative Isidro Ungab.
According to an ABS-CBN News report, Manuel identified the blank allocations in critical programs under the Department of Agriculture (DA), the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), and the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA). Among these were the Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Program, Small-Scale Irrigation Projects, and the National Fisheries Program. The National Irrigation Authority and unprogrammed appropriations were also implicated.
“This raises the question of who filled in the blanks for the final version that was signed into law,” Manuel said, criticizing the alleged ratification of incomplete reports. He emphasized that every detail in a bill must be reviewed and approved by both chambers of Congress.
The Palace has dismissed the claims, asserting that the enrolled budget bill sent to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. contained no blank entries. Senate President Francis Escudero also downplayed the concerns, stating, “What matters is the signed General Appropriations Act, which had no blanks or missing amounts.”
While some lawmakers, including Senator Imee Marcos, acknowledged the presence of blanks in the bicam report, they clarified that the signed budget law was complete. “The bicam report had blanks, but the General Appropriations Act signed by the President was complete with no missing data,” Marcos explained.
House Deputy Majority Leader Francisco Paolo Ortega V and Surigao Del Norte 2nd District Representative Robert Ace Barbers dismissed the allegations, attributing them to political motivations. “It’s unfair to claim Congress handed the President a blank check,” Ortega said.
Despite these assurances, Manuel and other members of the Makabayan bloc remain critical, urging transparency in the budget process to prevent similar controversies in the future.
