Gov’t told to explain 2025 budget

THE Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday ordered the Philippine government to comment on a lawsuit filed by a former presidential spokesman challenging the 2025 national budget.

The high court en banc directed both houses of Congress and Executive Secretary Lucas P. Bersamin to comment on the petition filed by Victor D. Rodriguez last week within a non-extendible period of ten days from receipt of notice.

On Jan. 27, Mr. Rodriguez asked the high court to declare the General Appropriations Act (GAA) illegal for failing to include mandatory funding for the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth), illegally increasing appropriations over the President’s recommendations, and giving the most budget to infrastructure over education.

The petition added the 2025 national budget is illegal as the Bicameral Committee Report on the General Appropriations Bill had blank items.

“You don’t pass an unenrolled bill blank,” he said, claiming that the 2025 GAA “violated Article VI, Section 27 of the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines when the members of the Bicameral Conference Committee signed and submitted a Report on the 2025 General Appropriations Bill with blanks.” — Chloe Mari A. Hufana