Malacañang categorically denied involvement in the alleged “blank pages” in the bicameral conference committee report on the 2025 national budget, Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin said on Friday.
“Alisin natin sa consciousness ninyo na kami ay may kinalaman sa mga blank pages na sinasabi ninyo,” Bersamin stated during a press conference.
He clarified that the Executive Branch, including President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., had no participation in the supposed blank items in the bicameral report.
“That is why we resented the impression that the President was given a blank check,” he added.
The issue surfaced after former President Rodrigo Duterte claimed that the General Appropriations Act (GAA) contained blank items without specified projects or funding.
Bersamin strongly refuted the allegations, dismissing them as “fake news” and accusing critics of attempting to mislead the public into blaming the President for supposedly filling in these blank pages.
“Kaya namin sinasabi na fake news ‘yan dahil binibintang kay Presidente ‘yung pag-fill up. Even if that is not what they said, that is the impression they want to give to the public, which is very wrong, very malicious,” Bersamin emphasized.
He also stressed that the Executive Branch “did not benefit at all from the blank spaces that are being circulated.”
President Marcos had earlier dismissed the claims, asserting that it would be impossible for the budget to pass with unspecified items.
“Kaya ako I came out with a very strong statement diyan and the President was very blunt also in saying that whatever the former president was saying about this is a lie,” Bersamin reiterated.
Bersamin encouraged the public to direct their questions to Congress, stating, “Gusto kong malaman ng taumbayan na wala talaga kaming kinalaman diyan. Tanungin ninyo ang mga congressmen, mga senators. And that is all that we can say at this point.”