President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has denied involvement in supposed “blank items” in the national budget, with a Malacañang official calling the claims “fake” and “malicious.”
“Alisin natin sa consciousness ninyo na kami may kinalaman sa mga blank pages na sinasabi ninyo. That is why we resented so much, iyong impression that the President was given a blank check, wala kaming kinalaman, internal sa congress iyon,” said Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin during a press briefing on Friday, Jan. 24.
Bersamin said there was nothing to gain from supposed alleged blank pages in the General Appropriations Act (GAA).
“Kaya namin sinasabi na fake news iyan, dahil binibintang kay presidente iyong pag-fill up, even if that is not what they said, that is the impression they want to give to the public, which is very wrong, very malicious,” Bersamin said, referring to claims by former President Rodrigo Duterte and Davao City 3rd District Rep. Isidro Ungab.
Duterte said there were blank entries in the GAA without specified projects or funding, calling the budget “invalid.”
Bersamin also criticized Duterte and his allies for spreading falsehoods.
“Gusto kong malaman ng taong bayan na wala talaga kaming kinalaman diyan. Tanungin ninyo mga congressmen, mga senators [I want the public to know that we have nothing to do with this. Ask the congressmen, ask the senators.] And that is all we can say at this point,” he said.
