Supreme Court/File

MANILA, Philippines – The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered the presence of Marikina 2nd District Representative Stella Quimbo as well as all members of the Technical Working Group of both the Senate and House of Representatives on the scheduled oral argument in Baguio City on April 1,2 and 3 set to tackle the controversial 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA).

Former executive secretary and now senatorial aspirant Atty. Vic Rodriguez confirmed that the SC has issued the order during a preliminary conference of the Supreme Court en banc on Wednesday. 

Rodriguez, together with Davao City Third District Rep. Isidro Ungab, filed a petition questioning the constitutionality of the 2025 national budget, the former described as “anomalous” and “criminal.” 

Part of the High Court’s order was requiring both houses of Congress to submit the original copies of both the 2025 General Appropriations Bill and the 2025 General Appropriations Enrolled Bill.

Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, Senate President Francis Escudero, and Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin were likewise ordered to submit their comments. 

According to Feb.18 advisory issued by the Supreme Court, the following issues will be tackled: 

• Whether the petitioners have legal standing to sue
• Whether the issues raised involve an actual and justiciable controversy 
• Whether the petitioners’ direct resort to the court is proper
• Whether the issue of constitutionality is the lis mota of the case.

Meanwhile, the substantive issues are:

• Whether the GAA violates Section 15, Article II of the Constitution in relation to Section 10 to 11 and 37 of the Universal Health Care Act
• Whether the 2025 GAA violates Section 25 (1), Article VI of the Constitution
• Whether the 2025 GAA violates Section 5(5), Article XIV of the Constitution which mandates the highest budgetary priority to be given to education
• Whether the 2025 GAA violates Section 27, Article VI of the Constitution when the members of the Bicameral Conference Committee submitted a report on the GAB with blank items.

In January, Quimbo confirmed that indeed, there were blank items in the Bicameral Conference Committee report but clarified that funding for the items had already been identified prior to the signing of the committee report. 

Among the alleged discrepancies Rodriguez and his group saw in the 2025 GAA were the defunding of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. and budget misappropriations such as the priority of infrastructure over education. 

Last February, Duterte allies led by Davao del Norte Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez also filed criminal and graft complaints against House Speaker Martin Romualdez and five others before the Office of the Ombudsman over the supposed P241 billion worth of “insertions” in the 2025 GAA.

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