The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said it was not aware of the blank pages in the Bicameral Conference Committee (Bicam) report that was the basis for the 2025 General Appropriations Act that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed on 30 December.

Budget Undersecretary Goddes Hope Libiran disputed this newspaper’s editorial, “Blank Wall,” saying the DBM was not privy to the supposed blank pages in the Bicam report.

The basis of the editorial, however, was a DBM statement that said in part, “What has been presented by certain misinformed individuals are pages from the Bicameral Conference Committee Report, and NOT the General Appropriations Bill (GAB) nor the GAA.”

Allow us to note that nowhere in the released DBM statement did “the budget chief acknowledge the discrepancies” involving the 2025 GAA which allegedly contained blank pages or figures, Libiran said.

“What the DBM pointed out was that the documents under scrutiny were from a copy of the Bicameral Conference Committee report, and not the General Appropriations Bill nor the GAA or the enacted national budget approved by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.,” she said.

The editorial, however, pointed out that the Bicam report with the blank items existed at the time that Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin said it was merely invented by whistleblower Davao City Rep. Isidro Ungab.

“This, however, does not in any way translate into a concession made by the DBM chief. What we are certain of is that the enrolled bill signed by the President contained no blank pages. This can be verified in the copy of the GAA uploaded on our website on 3 January 2025,” according to Libiran.

“We would like to emphasize that the DBM statement was made in response to misleading posts by some individuals, especially by one Jun Abines which garnered more than 300,000 reactions as of this writing and nearly 200,000 shares which falsely claimed that the GAA had 10 or more blank pages,” she said.

“Hidden in the 222 pages of the 2025 General Appropriations Acts (GAA) were at least 10 pages with blank spaces where the amount of the budget was supposed to be written.

“Now we learn that of the P6.3-trillion 2025 GAA budget, there were loopholes and blank spaces that would allow them to put in the desired amount and redirect those funds to whoever, wherever and whenever they want!

“(Budget Secretary Amenah) Pangandaman should provide a clear response to questions about the huge unfilled spaces, a mystery that remains unresolved with the DBM’s obscure statement,” the editorial said.

It was Ungab and former President Rodrigo Duterte in a viral podcast who blew the lid off the Bicam report that was peppered with missing texts.

Ask Congress

The details of the process of legislation at the Congress level are best explained by Congress itself, Libiran said.

“The Bicam committee also has its internal rules of procedure on the matter of legislation. Hence, the Bicam members are in the best position to shed light on this matter,” she said in a letter to Daily Tribune.

“We implore the author to refrain from spreading disinformation and negative prejudice, especially to a government official, in his/her coverage and reporting,” the letter stated.

“It would be unfortunate if the consequences of disseminating inaccurate information would undermine the untainted integrity of Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman, who works tirelessly to the best of her ability as an honest and true public servant,” it went.

“Such actions would likewise demonstrate an imprudent disregard for accurate and fair information — a potential risk that would eclipse quality journalism,” the letter said.