00:00Malacanang once again denied the issue of blank items in the General Appropriations Act.
00:06Meanwhile, National Economic and Development Authority or NEDA called the Philippines' economic performance impressive despite the challenges the country has faced.
00:15PTV's Kenneth Paciente tells us the details in this report.
00:19Let's get out of your consciousness that we have something to do with the blank pages that you are talking about.
00:29That is why we resented so much the impression that the president was given a blank check.
00:37We have nothing to do with that. It's internal to the Congress.
00:42That is what Malacanang reiterated in line of the issue claiming that the palace was involved
00:47in the emergence of blank items in the 2025 national budget.
00:51Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin emphasized that the executive branch, especially the president, had no role in the blank pages of the General Appropriations Act.
00:59I'm sure that we did not benefit at all from the blank spaces that are being peddled around.
01:08That is why we are saying that it is fake news because the president is being forced to fill up.
01:16Even if that is not what they said, that is the impression they want to give to the public which is very wrong, very malicious.
01:25However, if legal action is taken to question the national budget, the secretary insisted...
01:30I will not stop Congressman Ungang and similarly minded people who want to put up a challenge.
01:41Our problem is that we will not be responsible if there is a lack in that because it is a BICAM report.
01:52We have nothing to do with BICAM report.
01:55We only know about the finished product that was signed by the president, not the blank check.
02:04Davao City 3rd District Representative Isidro Ungag previously stated that they plan to bring the issue to the Supreme Court.
02:11However, as a former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Bersamin believes that the High Court will not block the implementation of the 2025 national budget.
02:19I cannot understand if the Supreme Court will have that tendency to put a stop to it, even if any of those challengers will ask for a TRO.
02:30Because the government must function, must be run.
02:33Now, they will say that there is a fallback on the re-enacted budget.
02:38But the re-enacted budget can come only when there is a finding that it has been vetoed
02:44or the Supreme Court has nullified the present budget.
02:50The DBM meanwhile stated that there is a 30 billion peso gap that needs to be filled following the budget cuts in various government agencies' funds.
02:58But they said they would find ways to prevent disruption of services for Filipinos by utilizing certain mechanisms.
03:05So that's it. Augmentation, savings, and UA.
03:11And the last one is another fund, the use of contingent fund of our President.
03:18These are new projects and urgent projects.
03:21These can be requested by our department heads.
03:24Of course, we will ask for necessary documentation.
03:28Again, the Office of the President will approve the contingent fund.
03:34Meanwhile, amid the challenges faced by the country,
03:38NEDA again emphasized that the country's economic performance remains impressive.
03:42We fall short of the target, but that's understandable as I said because of the external...
04:04Third among the major emerging economies in Asia as a top performer.
04:12Today, the 2025 Budget Execution Workshop was conducted in order for agencies to discuss the proper utilization of their funds in line with the directive of President Marcos Jr.
Be the first to comment