AMID lingering concerns regarding the integrity of the 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA), Acting House Committee on Appropriations Chairperson Rep. Stella Luz A. Quimbo of Marikina City on Monday reiterated that the national budget is legally sound, valid and fully enforceable.
Quimbo’s statement seeks to dispel doubts and reinforce the assurances made by key government officials, including President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr., Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM),
and Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero.
“The 2025 General Appropriations Act is lawful, valid and fully enforceable,” Quimbo asserted.
Quimbo said that the enrolled General Appropriations Bill is comprehensive, containing no blank allocations among its more than 235,000 line items.
“There are two key points I want to stress for the benefit of all. First, the enrolled General Appropriations Bill is complete, with no blank allocations among its more than 235,000 line items. Second, the Bicameral Report explicitly authorized the technical secretariats of both the Senate and the House of Representatives to implement corrections and adjustments as required,” she said. “These do not affect the integrity nor the legality of the budget.”
She said the enrolled General Appropriations Bill has been made publicly available, providing the best evidence of its completeness and compliance with due process.
“Makikita po ng lahat ito. Walang tinatago,” she stated.
“Any suggestion of impropriety is unfounded and appears to be politically motivated rather than prompted by genuinely substantive concerns. It is unfortunate that an administrative matter is being maliciously misconstrued to create controversy where there is none,” she added.
“This matter has been sufficiently explained, and at a time when we face far real and urgent national challenges, it would be more productive to focus our efforts on addressing the legitimately pressing needs of our people.”
The 2025 GAA was signed into law by President Marcos on December 30, 2024. The budget reflects a 10% increase from the previous year, aiming to support economic growth and reduce poverty. The education sector received the largest allocation, with P1.053 trillion, followed by the public works ministry at P1.034 trillion.
Former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte labeled the budget as invalid, alleging that some items were left unfunded to give President Marcos undue discretion over fund allocation. President Marcos refuted these claims, stating that passing a budget with blank items is not permissible.
In light of these controversies, the DBM has taken steps to enhance transparency. The DBM beefed up its website capacity amid ‘fake news’ on the 2025 budget, ensuring that the GAA has been publicly available since January 3, 2025, and has been accessed by thousands of users.
