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

Senate Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros  (Senate Public Relations and Information Bureau)

MANILA,  Philippines— Although she voted against this year’s P6.326 trillion national budget, opposition Sen. Risa Hontiveros expressed doubts Congress would pass any budget with blank items, as claimed by former president Rodrigo Duterte.

This is still in response to allegations that the 2025 budget was riddled with blanks.

According to  Hontiveros, she did not sign the Congressional bicameral committee report on the budget after it scrapped the P74 billion subsidy for the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) and reduced funding for the public and education sectors.

She, along with  Senate Minority  Leader  Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel  III, later voted against it when the upper chamber ratified the budget measure last  December 11, 2024.

“Pero talagang hindi naman  ako makapaniwala  na magpapasa ng anumang  budget ang Kongreso ng ating Republika  na may blank di ba?” Hontiveros  said over the Radyo 630 interview on Tuesday.

(But I really cannot believe that Congress would pass any budget with blanks, right?)

“Ano ba ito, hindi naman ito  test na pencils up, finish or not  finish pass your paper. Taon-taon tinatapos ng Kongreso ang trabaho namin para magpasa ng budget…” she said.

(What is this? This is not a test where it’s pencils up, finish or not finish, pass your paper. Every year, Congress finishes its job of passing the budget.

Part of this budgetary process allows every lawmaker the freedom to vote in favor of or against any budget measure,  the senator pointed out.

“Pero siguro naman  tinapos namin yung aming trabaho kaya hindi ako maniwala dyan sa sinabi  ni Duterte,”  added Hontiveros, referring to former president Rodrigo  Duterte.

(But I think we finished our work, so I don’t believe what former president Duterte said.)

Duterte recently criticized the 2025 budget, saying that leaving some items in the bicameral report vacant was not acceptable.

The former leader’s remarks did not sit well with President  Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr..

“He’s lying. He’s a president. He knows that you cannot pass a GAA with a blank. He’s lying. And he’s lying because he knows perfectly well that that doesn’t ever happen,” Marcos said in an interview on  Monday.

It was Davao City Rep. Isidro Ungab, former chairman of the House of Representatives’ appropriations committee, who earlier claimed that portions of the budget measure were left blank in the bicam report.

Hontiveros surmised that Duterte might have been victimized by fake news.

“Parang nga e. Namfi- fake news din yata sya,” she said when asked if the former president was a victim of fake news.

(It seems like that.  He might be spreading fake news too.