MANILA – Senators who were members of the bicameral committee refuted former president Rodrigo Duterte’s claims regarding “blank items” in the 2025 national budget, emphasizing that the budget underwent a comprehensive review prior to its approval.
Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said the Senate staff, committee chairs, and legislators conduct a detailed examination of all annexes and attachments to ensure the budget is balanced.
“We signed the front page, but the staff meticulously reviewed all annexes and attachments. Naturally, the chairman also assessed these before finalization. If there were blanks, the budget could not be balanced. It is essential for the budget to be balanced,” Gatchalian explained.
He further asserted that it is impossible to approve a budget containing blank items.
“For my team and me, we did not encounter any blanks because it must be balanced. That is our constant focus,” Gatchalian said.
Sen. Joel Villanueva, for his part, indicated that the bicameral conference committee report, which he also endorsed, was thorough.
“As a member of the bicameral committee, everything was included. I did not observe any blanks, whatsoever,” Villanueva remarked.
“It is difficult to accept the notion of blanks, as they would not tally, and simultaneously, a law cannot be passed if it contains blanks,” he stated.
The senators’ responses followed assertions from Duterte and Davao City 3rd District’s Cong. Isidro Ungab, who claimed that at least 13 pages of the 2025 budget contained items that were incomplete./PN
