SENATOR Imee Marcos has voiced strong concerns about the 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA), describing it as one of the most “mangled” and “corrupt” national budgets in recent memory.
In a Facebook post on Sunday, the senator raised questions about her colleagues’ role in the budget’s allocation of public funds, particularly concerning insertions linked to potentially problematic flood control projects under the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
Marcos stated that she was among the few senators who refused to sign the bicameral conference committee report on the 2025 national budget, citing her strong opposition to the alleged corruption.
“Ako ang senador na pinakatumutol sa 2025 Budget,” Marcos wrote, emphasizing her dissent and claiming she even pleaded with others to avoid endangering her brother, the nation’s funds, and the Filipino people.
Marcos accompanied her post with a screenshot of the bicam report’s last page, highlighting her missing signature as proof of her opposition.
She identified several senators who signed the report, including then Senate President Francis Escudero, then Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada, former majority leader Francis Tolentino, and then deputy majority leader JV Ejercito. Senators Marcos, Juan Miguel Zubiri, Joel Villanueva, and Koko Pimentel did not sign.
The 2025 national budget, amounting to ₱6.3 trillion, faced intense scrutiny due to the DPWH’s allocation ballooning to nearly ₱1 trillion, allegedly surpassing the education sector’s budget in violation of the Constitution. Lawmakers were accused of inserting pork-laden projects in collusion with DPWH officials, with many projects linked to anomalous flood control initiatives.
While President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed the budget into law, he vetoed ₱26 billion worth of DPWH infrastructure projects amid mounting corruption allegations.
