Former House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez on Sunday dismissed President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s pronouncement that the government will “shut down everything” if the Supreme Court rules in favor of petitioners challenging the constitutionality of Republic Act 12116 or the General Appropriations Act (GAA) of 2025 due to the alleged missing figures on the Bicameral Conference Committee Report.
This developed after Davao Representative Isidro Ungab and former executive secretary Vic Rodriguez filed a petition before the Supreme Court on January 27, challenging the 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA).
In their petition, they called the 2025 budget “illegal and criminal,” asking the high court to declare the GAA unconstitutional.
However, Marcos called out the petitioners against the 2025 budget for being part of a “destabilization” effort against his administration.
According to Marcos, the petition could undermine government operations.
“We shut down everything. I guess that’s what they want. They want the government to cease working,” Marcos said.
In the “Basta Dabawenyo” podcast, Alvarez said if ever the petition is approved by the High Court, the law provides for the contingency of a reenactment of the previous year’s budget.
“Yun ang mangyayari at hindi ibig sabihin hihinto yung gobyerno, na mag shutdown yung mga ahensiya, hindi ganon. Kung gusto niya siya mismo ang mag sha-shut down. Baka naman gusto niyang mag step down, nagkamali lang seguro o hindi shut down, step down seguro,” he said.
Alvarez also said he felt pity with the President for not knowing what is happening in the country.
“Naawa ako kay Pangulo dahil apparently talagang hindi niya alam kung anong nangyayari sa bansa. Naging congressman yan, naging senador pa eh, dapat alam na alam niya na kung halimbawa na declare na unconstitutional itong 2025 budget magkakaroon ng reenactment tung budget ng nakaraan na taon,” Alvarez said.
Meanwhile, Rodriguez explained that the framers of the 1997 constitution already had this foresight that in case there is an impasse, there is a reenacted budget.
“Hindi titigil ang gobyerno sa pamamalakad sa ating mga Pilipino and the solution can be found in our constitution. Automatic reenactment of the budget so even if any administration will have no contingency plan our constitution already provided a remedy in the event,” he said during the Basta Dabawenyo podcast.
Rodriguez said that this kind of huge error and misappropriation of the Constitution cannot be ignored.
“Tinutuwid natin yung pagpasa ng blankong Bicameral Conference Committee and we were surpised really how come it was the executive department to initally reacted and said that we are spreading false information and even addressed former President Rodrigo Duterte as lying because wala daw blanko sa GAA, hindi GAA ang sinasabi natin na may blanko kundi yung bicam,” he said.
