MANILA, Philippines — A lawmaker claimed that 'magicians' filled up the blank spaces in the bicameral conference committee report and criticized the response of Malacanang to his allegations as 'off tangent' and 'out of order.' Davao City Third District Rep. Isidro Ungab's statement comes as President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin called former president Rodrigo Duterte a 'liar' for claiming that there were blanks in the budget bill during a 'Basta Dabawenyo' podcast interview, saying that the measure was 'inaccurate' and 'invalid.'

In a statement, Ungab said that as the former chairman of the House of Representatives' appropriations committee, he took it as a 'serious duty and responsibility' to scrutinize the national budget.