A first for OVP: Sara Duterte fails last chance to get House budget panel’s nod

MANILA, Philippines – The House appropriations committee deferred for a second time the deliberations on the proposed 2025 budget of the Office of the Vice President, after Sara Duterte and the entire OVP snubbed the second scheduled hearing on their 2025 funding request on Tuesday, September 10.

“I move that we defer the termination of the deliberation of the proposed budget of the Office of the Vice President, subject to conditions, either (1) reduce the proposed budget of the Office of the Vice President, and (2) place certain funds on hold until further discussions are held,” Ako Bicol and appropriations committee vice chair Jil Bongalon said in his motion, which was seconded without objections.

House Assistant Majority Leader Zia Alonto Adiong, who is tasked to defend the OVP budget in the plenary in accordance with parliamentary procedure, said the deferral of the budget briefing meant the process is on “pause,” but will continue in the plenary.

“Part of the [House appropriations] committee report is the budget of the Office of the Vice President as reflected under the National Expenditure Program,” Adiong told reporters after the budget briefing.

This is not the first time the budget panel deferred deliberations on the funding request of an agency, having done the same for the National Commission on Indigenous People and the National Youth Commission in the past, but it is historic for the chamber to give the office of the country’s second highest leader the same treatment.

‘The VP boycotted us’

The House appropriations committee set Tuesday’s hearing to give the OVP another chance, after Duterte’s repeated refusal to properly answer lawmakers’ questions on her confidential expenses during the first round of deliberations on August 27 resulted in the committee withholding the budget request, instead of elevating it to the plenary.

Before the start of Tuesday’s hearing, the House received a letter from Duterte saying the OVP would “defer entirely to the discretion and judgment of the committee” regarding its budget request, but absent an explicit confirmation that her agency would not show up, lawmakers waited for a full hour before convening.

While the hearing was ongoing, the OVP issued a statement saying that none of their officials will attend the budget hearing, reiterating that they would defer to the House.

The three-hour hearing, even without Duterte or her staff present, saw lawmakers lambast the Vice President for snubbing the proceedings, with House Deputy Minority Leader France Castro of ACT Teachers calling her “bratinella to the max.”

“Pasensiya na ang taumbayan, binoycott tayo ng Vice President (Sorry, Filipinos, the Vice President boycotted us),” she said.

SAGIP Representative Rodante Marcoleta, Davao City 3rd District Representative Isidro Ungab, and Davao Occidental Representative Claude Bautista tried to terminate the briefing early, citing the well-kept tradition of granting the OVP parliamentary courtesy, but the motion was overruled in a 45 to 3 vote.

“How can we extend courtesy if the official is not here?” Bongalon told Marcoleta and Ungab in an off-mic exchange during a brief suspension of the hearing, one that saw lawmakers raising their voices.

Confidential expenses

Lawmakers instead directed their question to invited resource speakers of the Commission on Audit (COA) and the Department of Budget and Management over her controversial confidential funds.

During the interpellation, it was revealed that Duterte has yet to formally appeal the notice of disallowance slapped by the COA against the OVP over the latter’s confidential expenses worth P73 million in 2022. State auditors only issued the document in August, and the OVP has six months to challenge the order.

In a press release, House Majority Leader Mannix Dalipe warned Duterte of the consequences for failing to justify her confidential expenses.

“More than just allegations of mismanagement, she may be held liable for graft, for possible violation of the anti-graft laws, if she cannot adequately explain and justify the adverse findings, and if the COA does not accept her explanations and justifications,” Dalipe said.

The Vice President is requesting P2.037 billion for her office for 2024, but appropriations committee chairperson Zaldy Co said Duterte does not deserve that funding.

Earlier in the day, Duterte released a taped interview accusing Co and Speaker Martin Romualdez of meddling in the budget of the Department of Education when she was head of agency, an allegation that Co denied.

“Bibigyan pa ba natin siya ng P2 billion na ipanggagastos daw sa mahihirap? Ibigay po natin ito sa tamang ahensya. Huwag po nating hahayaan na waldasin na naman ang kahit pisong sentimo na dapat nating bantayan,” Co said.

(Will we still give her P2 billion which she will supposedly spend for the poor? Let’s give those funds to the proper agency. Let’s not allow the misuse of even a single centavo that we should be keeping guard of.)

The fight between the Vice President and the House — among the ugliest fights under the current administration — came three months after Duterte resigned from the Cabinet of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., a confirmation that the 2022 alliance that catapulted them to the country’s most powerful posts had been finally dissolved. – Rappler.com