Davao City Rep. Isidro Ungab, former chairman of the powerful House Committee on Appropriations, vowed to question before the Supreme Court the alleged blanks in the bicameral conference committee report that approved the 2025 General Appropriations Act.

Ungab aired his plan in a message to the Inquirer, explaining that the filing of an SC case is the only remedy he has to stop the full implementation of the questionable GAA.

An ally of former President Rodrigo Duterte, Ungab revealed that the bicameral committee report on the 2025 GAA contained blanks , thus, making its eventual approval by Congress anomalous.

Under the rules of both the Senate and the Lower House, the bicameral committee report is the final version of a pending bill. It must first be ratified in separate plenary sessions prior to transmittal as an enrolled bill to Malacanang.

Duterte publicly disclosed the reported irregularity, triggering a reaction from Malacañang.

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. belied Duterte’s claim as he assailed his predecessor of “lying.”

Ungab has claimed that the bicameral committee report that reconciled versions of the General Appropriations Bill of the Senate and the Lower House contained multiple blanks.

Ungab said that since Marcos has already signed the 2025 GAA law, he is left with no other recourse but to file a case before the SC,



He also disclosed that a number of groups are planning to seek the intervention of the judiciary to address the anomaly.

Aside from the alleged blanks in the budget measure, the approval of the PHP6.326 trillion GAA has been hounded by various controversies centered on the way the Senate and the Lower House allocated government funds.

Among the issues raised were the zero subsidy for state insurer Philippine Health Insurance and the PHP12 billion budget cut against the Department of Education appropriation.

Even more scandalous is the continued allocation of huge funds for distribution to voters under the Ayuda sa mga Kapos ang Kita Program (AKAP) and the Assistance for Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS) notwithstanding the election ban.