MANILAezjili, Philippines — A provision on the bicameral conference committee General Appropriations Bill (GAB) for 2025 states that in case of inaccuracies between the bicameral conference committee report and the printed version of the bill, the latter will prevail, Marikina Rep. Stella Quimbo said.

Quimbo in an ambush interview on Tuesday said that there are two omnibus provisions in the bicam report—one of which states that the print version will always be given priority, like what happened in the 2025 budget.

The 2025 budget has been scrutinized for supposedly having blanks in the appropriations for certain line items. Quimbo and several House lawmakers however insisted that the budget is legal and above board.

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READ: Quimbo: Bicam finalized exact budget, Senate staff prepared report

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“So, as I said yesterday, there are two omnibus provisions in our bicam report and one of these states that in case of conflict between the bicam report and the printed version of the bill, the latter will prevail,” Quimbo, acting chairperson of the House of Representatives’ committee on appropriations, said.

READ: Quimbo: Blanks in 2025 budget only for final computation

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“Which happened in this case because the bicam report had blanks and then the printed bill had figures. So in that case the printed bill prevails under the omnibus provision,” she added.

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According to Quimbo, such an omnibus provision was present since 2007.

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

“This omnibus provision has been there since 2007. So I checked every single bicam until 2007. I don’t know if it is there, but I was tired of looking at bicam reports before 2007. But up to 2007, the two omnibus provisions are there, because it does happen,” she noted.

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“The first omnibus provision has to do with the nature of the corrections. According to the first omnibus provision, typographical errors, as well as adjustments as a consequence of the amendments […] And I was able to explain that the adjustments that happened are very ministerial,” she added.

Earlier, Quimbo also maintained that the blank items in the bicam report on the then-proposed 2025 budget had exact figures already. Furthermore, she said that it was the Senate committee on finance’s technical staff which prepared the bicam report on the GAB.

According to Quimbo, the adjustments can be seen on the Senate’s committee report which was based on the House’s GAB version.

These allegations that there were blank provisions for line items were raised by Davao City Rep. Isidro Ungab and former president Rodrigo Duterte, who both claimed that the budget was illegal since the blanks were not filled up before the House ratified the bicam report.

Ungab, former executive secretary Vic Rodriguez, and their allies earlier filed a petition before the Supreme Court (SC), seeking to declare the 2025 budget as unconstitutional.

Quimbo however maintained that while Ungab and other individuals are free to file petitions before the SC, the budget that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed is legal.

Several lawmakers from the House and the Senate insisted that the enrolled budget bill had no blank provisions. Aside from Quimbo and La Union Rep. Paolo Ortega V Ortega, Senator Risa Hontiveros said that although she voted against the 2025 budget, she did not see any blanks in the items under the bicam report.

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In a press conference late Tuesday afternoon, Philippine Seven Corp. (PSC) head of finance and investor relations Lawrence de Leon said they have 4,022 stores to date.

Senate President Francis Escudero also maintained that the bicam report which he signed had no blank items.  Escudero in an interview last Wednesday said that Ungab — a former chairperson of the House committee on appropriations—should have known better as he is aware of the budget processes.ezjili

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