Sen. Imee Marcos — File photo from the Senate Public Relations and Information Bureau
MANILA, Philippines — “Do not lead my brother to harm.”
Sen. Imee Marcos said this on Thursday when she appealed to Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin and Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman to not let her brother, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the 2025 General Appropriations Act for now— which she called a “very bad budget” — in light of the issues hounding the contentious funding.
“I am appealing. He knows the Constitution better than I. Do not lead my brother to harm. Do not force him to sign the budget even if it’s contentious,” the senator said in Filipino at the “Kapihan sa Senado” forum.
“I am also appealing to the Department of Budget and Management DBM not to let this ‘for later release’ become a system. This magical ‘for later release’ forces some to kneel before the DBM and its bosses just to acquire projects,” she added.
The senator made her remarks days after the Palace confirmed that the president was still assessing whether to defer signing the 2025 GAA.
Bersamin himself said certain items and provisions of the national budget bill would be vetoed in the interest of public welfare.
This did not sit well with the senator who maintained that there was no need for a line-item veto on controversial portions of the national fund. She said it would be better if the president just returned the document to the bicameral conference committee for reconsideration.
“A line-item veto will not be enough because this very bad budget has serious problems. If we’re only going to do a line-item veto, will the issues regarding the Constitution be resolved? We can’t resolve this using a line-item veto because the problems are so serious,” she said.
Among controversial items in the 2025 budget bill are the Department of Education budget, which was decreased by almost P12 billion; the Philippine Health Insurance Corp.’s zero subsidy for 2025; and the Ayuda sa Kapos ang Kita Program, which was funded by the bicameral conference committee with more or less P26 billion.