FILE PHOTO: Marikina Rep. Stella Luz Quimbo. House of Representatives Facebook page

MANILA, Philippines — Marikina 2nd District Rep. Stella Quimbo has maintained that the blank items in the bicameral conference committee report on the then-proposed 2025 budget had exact figures already, insisting that blanks were only left for final calculations.

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Quimbo in an ambush interview on Tuesday also said that it was the Senate committee on finance’s technical staff which prepared the bicam report on the General Appropriations Bill (GAB).

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“Yes, lahat po,” Quimbo said when asked if the blank allocations in the bicam report on the budget had exact figures discussed by the bicam.  “So ano yung reports na yun?  Senate committee report, the HGAB (House GAB version), the other portions of the bicam report itself,” she said.

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(Yes, everything (had exact figures).  So what are the reports used?  That’s the Senate committee report, the HGAB (House GAB version), the other portions of the bicam report itself.)

“Yes.  So, ang nag-prepare po ay ang Senate technical staff ng committee on finance,” she replied, when asked again by reporters if it is the Senate that prepared the final bicam report.

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(Yes.  So, it was prepared by the Senate technical staff ng committee on finance.)

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According to Quimbo, the adjustments can be seen on the Senate’s committee report which was based on the House’s GAB version.

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“Napaliwanag ko naman po na ang adjustments na nangyari po ay very ministerial. Ibig sabihin po, makikita po natin na these are based on the Senate committee report, based din po sa HGAB, actually, you will also see some of the figures in other portions of the bicam report itself, as well as bicam discussions,” she explained.

(I was able to explain before that the adjustments that happened were very ministerial.  This means, we can see that these are based on the Senate committee report, based also on the HGAB, actually, you will also see some of the figures in other portions of the bicam report itself, as well as bicam discussions.)

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The 2025 budget, or the General Appropriations Act signed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., is currently being scrutinized for supposedly having blank allocations for certain line items.

These allegations were raised by Davao City 3rd District Rep. Isidro Ungab and former president Rodrigo Duterte, who both claimed that the budget was illegal since the blanks were not filled up before the House ratified the bicam report.

Ungab, former former executive secretary Vic Rodriguez, and their allies earlier filed a petition before the Supreme Court (SC), seeking to declare the 2025 budget as unconstitutional.

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READ: Solon, other petitioners as Supreme Court to nullify 2025 GAA 

Quimbo however maintained that while Ungab and other individuals are free to file petitions before the SC, the budget that Marcos signed is legal.

“Sila naman po ay malayang gawin ‘yaan pero kami naman po ay we stand by our position that the 2025 GAA is lawful, valid and fully enforceable.  Ang paliwanag ay simple lang naman po: ang enrolled bill, na bale in short po ang sinubmit po ng Kongreso na General Appropriations Bill ay complete.  At ‘yon po ang naging basehan po ng 2025 GAA,” she said.

(They are free to do that but we stand by our position that the 2025 GAA is lawful, valid and fully enforceable.  The explanation is simple: the enrolled bill, which in short is the one we submitted to Congress as a General Appropriations Bill, is complete.  And that is the basis of the 2025 GAA.)

READ: Escudero: ‘No blank items on 2025 national budget I signed’ 

Earlier, Deputy Majority Leader and La Union 1st District Rep. Paolo Ortega V said that filing a petition is merely a desperate attempt for political survival.

According to Ortega, these moves from Ungab and his allies are a “calculated political gambit” that only aims to “obstruct progress and destabilize the administration.”

Several lawmakers from the House and the Senate insisted that the enrolled budget bill had no blank provisions.  Aside from Quimbo and Ortega, Senator Risa Hontiveros said that although she voted against the 2025 budget, she did not see any blanks in the items under the bicam report.

READ: Hontiveros rejects Duterte’s ‘blank items’ claim vs 2025 budget 

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Senate President Francis Escudero also maintained that the bicam report which he signed had no blank items.  Escudero in an interview last Wednesday said that Ungab — a former chairperson of the House committee on appropriations — should have known better as he is aware of the budget processes.k9win

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