SC orders Quimbo to defend 2025 GAA against unconst. claims

The Supreme Court ordered House Committee on Appropriations Chairperson Stella Quimbo and members of the technical working group to attend oral arguments regarding the 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA) from April 1 to 3 in Baguio City.

Former executive secretary Vic Rodriguez, along with other petitioners including Davao City representative Isidro Ungab, asked the SC to declare the GAA unconstitutional due to alleged irregularities and blank items in the bicameral conference committee report.

The plaintiffs argue that the removal of PhilHealth's budget violates the constitutional right to health and undermines the Universal Health Care Act, while also alleging that the education budget is misleadingly inflated by including unrelated agencies.

Substantive issues include whether the GAA violates constitutional provisions related to health care, education funding, and proper budgetary procedures.

Quimbo confirmed there were blank items in the bicameral report but noted that funding for these had been identified before signing.

Petitioners argue that the 2025 GAA violates Article II, Section 15; Article VI, Section 25(1); and Article XIV, Section 5(5) of the Constitution.

Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin dismissed the allegations as misinformation.