Dismayed Sen. Marcos urges President to defer signing 2025 GAB

Sen. Imee Marcos —Senate Public Relations and Information Bureau

MANILA, Philippines — Senator Imee Marcos stood at the Senate’s plenary on Wednesday to raise her dismay over the 2025 budget bill and the process that it went through in Congress.

In a strongly worded privilege speech, Marcos enumerated the reasons why she was so dismayed over the ratification of the 2025 General Appropriations Bill (GAB) which contains the proposed national funding for next year.

According to Marcos, prior to the conduct of the bicameral conference committee meeting, a caucus among the senators was held on November 26 2024.

READ: Signing of 2025 GAA deferred for President’s review – Bersamin

“This would have been a good time to discuss the concerns that I and many of my colleagues have on the transparency of the bicam process. To my disappointment, the budget was not even raised in the caucus,” she claimed.

At the second and last bicameral conference committee meeting, Marcos said she personally asked for papers and documents before she aired her stand, but to no avail, none was given.

“Walang mga detalye o paliwanag, ni walang konkretong numero. Ang tanging hawak ko ay ilang datos ng Department of Social Welfare and Development na tila nilapastangan, sabay ang PhilHealth, sabay na rin ang DepEd (There are no details or explanations, nor are there any concrete numbers. The only thing I have is some data from the Department of Social Welfare and Development that seems to have been disrespected, PhilHealth at the same time, DepEd at the same time.),” she claimed.

This, according to her, is the reason why she did not sign the bicam report.

“The majority of the Senate contingent signed the signature page of the bicam report. However, several of the Senators soon refused to sign the rest of the report when they saw the drastic and inexplicable changes reflected therein,” she explained.

Marcos then proceeded to question the Senate’s ratification of the bicam report via viva voce, revealing that she tried to acquire CCTV footage of the actual voting, but the Senate refused to oblige.

“[But] the transcript reveals that a viva voce voting was conducted. Did we bother to ascertain how many Senators were actually present on the floor at that time?” she said.

“I certainly was no longer there, and so many other Senators had determined to depart. Would it have hurt to check if, as apparent, on so many other online videos, there were a mere 13 members present?” she added.

But apart from these, Marcos said what’s more disturbing is the “fact” that the bicam report was ratified even though, at the time, there was no final version of the 2025 GAB report.

“Is it not the bicam report that was supposed to embody all the changes that the bill had undergone during the bicam conference? How can the bicam committee release a bicam report for the 2025 GAB when the actual 2025 GAB was still being finalized?” she said.

The lady senator used these complaints to appeal to her younger brother—President Bongbong Marcos—to scrutinize the budget.

She said there’s no need to veto it, just bring it back to the bicameral conference committee similar to what was done to the Magna Carta of Seafarers, the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling, and other legislations.

“Wag na munang pirmahan hangga’t di pa nasasaayos muli nating mga mambabatas. Kahiya-hiya ito (Don’t sign until our legislators have reorganized it. It’s shameful.),” she emphasized.

The Palace earlier announced the deferment of the signing of the 2025 GAA as it is still being assessed by the President.

Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, himself, said certain items and provisions of the national budget bill will be vetoed in the interest of public welfare.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/2016438/bersamin-on-signing-of-gaa