Duterte lying about missing amounts in budget - Marcos

President Marcos yesterday accused former president Rodrigo Duterte of lying about supposed missing amounts in the 2025 budget, in a development that further highlighted the widening political rift between their families.

- With Keisha Ta-asan, Rhodina Villanueva, Mayen Jaymalin

Davao City 3rd District Rep. Isidro Ungab, an ally of Duterte, has questioned what he called the "discrepancies" in the bicameral conference committee report on this year's budget, particularly the supposed blank amounts for items under the agriculture department and unprogrammed appropriations.

Duterte claimed the P6.326-trillion national budget is not a valid legislation if it contains missing amounts. Placing anything in the budget that does not reflect the intent of Congress is a criminal offense punishable with imprisonment, the former president warned.

"He's lying. He's a president, he knows that you cannot pass a GAA (General Appropriations Act)...with a blank," Marcos told reporters in an interview in Taguig.

"And he's lying because he knows perfectly well that that doesn't ever happen," he added.

According to Marcos, a budget item that does not specify the projects to be funded was never allowed in the entire history of the Philippines.

Examining the copy of the 2025 budget uploaded on the website of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) would prove that the claim about the missing amounts is a lie, the President added.

"There is a copy available (on) the website of DBM. Look at it. You do not need to inspect it one by one. Look for the blank checks they were referring to. Look for them and see if you can spot even a single one. That will prove that I am correct in saying that it was just a lie," he said in Filipino.

Fake news