Kabataan Partylist Rep. Raoul Manuel claims that the bicameral conference report of the 2025 P6.326 trillion General Appropriations Act (GAA) contained blank items.

“The bicam report sent to all House members and ratified on Dec. 11 contained 14 blanks in total, 12 of which pertain to amounts related to agriculture programs, activities, and projects; and the remaining 2 related to fund utilization for unprogrammed appropriations,” Manuel said in a Viber message sent to The Daily Manila Shimbun.

Former Davao City Rep. Isidro Ungab previously claimed that there were 28 blank items, particularly in the Department of Agriculture (DA) and unprogrammed appropriations, in the 13-page Bicameral Conference Committee report.

Ex-President Rodrigo Duterte first raised the issue that there were discrepancies in the budget bill, saying there were portions that were left blank.

However, President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. denied this allegation, claiming that his predecessor was “lying”.

“He's lying. He's a President and he knows that you cannot pass a GAA without any with a blank. He's lying and he's lying because he knows perfectly well that that doesn't ever happen,” Marcos said.

Several senators, including Senate President Francis Escudero, also denied that there were blank parts of the P6.326 national budget. Jaspearl Tan/DMS