Former presidential aide-turned critic lawyer Vic Rodriguez announced on Friday that the preliminary conference for the controversial Bicameral Conference Committee Report of the 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA) has been reset to March 5 from the original schedule on February 28.
Rodriguez was in Davao City to participate in the Hugpong Youth Convention held at the Azuela Cove in Davao City on Friday evening.
“Supposedly, ngayong araw magaganap yung preliminary conference subali’t humingi ng extension of time ang Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) to make their submission doon sa comment na ipinag-uutos ng Korte Suprema. So it was pushed back to March 5 yung preliminary conference kaya we have yet to see a copy because we filed a motion to issue subpoena on the original copy of the enrolled bill. Apparently nakapag submit na yung gobyerno through the office of SolGen at hindi pa naming nakikita yung kopyang yan but in their compliance nakapag sumite na raw sila nung kopya ng enrolled bill,” Rodriguez told the media in a press conference.
Last month, Rodriguez and Davao City 3rd District Representative Isidro Ungab led a group of petitioners calling on the Supreme Court (SC) to declare the 2025 GAA unconstitutional.
The respondents in the petition are House Speaker Martin Romualdez, Senate President Chiz Escudero, and Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin.
Yet, the OSG said it has requested the SC for an extension to respond to the petition against the 2025 GAA.
In January this year, Ungab claimed that at least 13 pages of the Bicam report have items with blank appropriations.
“It is important because ang ating babalik balikan lagi ay yung mga blanko sa Bicameral Conference Committee. It is our strong position that you cannot have a signed the GAA bill and make it into a law kung ang basehan mo ay yung mga blankong Bicameral Committee report. It is highly anomalous, itong GAA at yung Bicameral Conference Committee report that was signed, ratified, approved, and filed before the House of Representatives is nothing but a product of a very poisonous legislative process,” Rodriguez said.
After the conference, the SC will then hold oral arguments on the said petition on April 1, 2025.
