Vice President Sara Duterte during the August 27 budget hearing. —Photo from House of Representatives of the Philippines’ Facebook page
MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte’s refusal to defend the Office of the Vice President (OVP) has left an impression that she is either not interested with her agency’s programs, or that she is not aware of what projects are being proposed.
Lawmakers from the House of Representatives’ Young Guns said this on Wednesday, as they were reacting to the Vice President’s latest interview in contrast to her refusal to answer questions in the August 27 budget hearing, and her absence at the second hearing held on Tuesday.
According to Assistant Majority Leader and La Union Rep. Paolo Ortega V, government agencies are usually eager to defend their budget as it would ensure the continuity of projects, as Congress deliberates whether the line items are deserving of allocations.
READ: VP Sara skips House hearing on 2025 OVP budget, sends letter instead
But in the case of the Office of the Vice President (OVP), Ortega said that it seems Duterte is really intent on forgoing that chance.
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“The reason why you are there is to fight for your budget, show what you have done and the programs you have in store. But if you are not present in the budget hearing, then how can you defend it, how can you fight for your allocations to programs intended to serve the people?” Ortega asked.
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READ: OVP’s 2025 budget talks deferred anew; panel terminates hearings
Foregoing the chance
“That’s why if you are not present, it seems that you are really foregoing the chance, it seems that you do not care about your proposed budget mo—that’s the way I see it because the budget season is the time when you are eager to present what you want to do, your programs for the coming year,” he added.
Furthermore, Ortega said the absence of a head of agency in a budget hearing seems to show a lack of interest in the position.
“It seems like you do not have an interest in the position, it seems like you do not want to be Vice President, you do not want to be the head of office if you do not show up. So, I’m still optimistic that they will be there, at least there is a representative, which should be done not only for themselves but also for the House of Representatives,” he added.
It is unclear if Duterte or any OVP representative will show up during the plenary debates on the proposed 2025 national budget, as the budget sponsor—Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong—has yet to receive a response from the OVP regarding a coordination meeting.
READ: VP Sara Duterte may be liable for graft – Dalipe
Rely on whatever documents he has
In case no one from the OVP shows up, Adiong said he will rely on whatever documents he has in his possession to answer queries from fellow House lawmakers, once the proposed budget is discussed at the plenary.
“Well, for us, whatever document that we have in our possession, we will use that. I mean, I cannot extend beyond what is my duty. Because I am not the spokesperson of the [OVP]. So I cannot infuse my own opinion and my personal stand on matters relating to her budget. I will base my answers on the documents that I have in my possession,” he said.
1-Rider party-list Rep. Ramon Rodrigo Gutierrez said that he advised Adiong to prepare as while they may be colleagues, he and the Minority will still ask questions—especially as to why it seems baseline data were not used when the OVP crafted its budget.
“For example with the cash advance of satellite offices and extension offices, where have you seen (a scenario where) all the district offices were given equal petty cash, cash advance of P2.2 million, but obviously, Cebu is bigger than Siquijor, right? I mean we have different demographics for different regional areas,” Rodriguez said.
“But it seems not much study was done when they crafted the budget, and interestingly here, BARMM (Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao) was only P200,000—that’s the difference, everyone else gets P2.2 million, BARMM gets P200,000 and it’s one of the most underserved regions so, I agree with what Cong. Jude (Acidre) is saying, very un-programmatic,” he added.
Duterte is currently under fire after budget hearings at the House revealed different issues with OVP’s confidential funds in 2022 and 2023, and anomalies in the delivery of projects under the Department of Education, when she was still Education secretary.
However, instead of addressing questions squarely, Duterte replied by saying that she either forgoes the opportunity to defend the budget in a question-and-answer format, or by insisting that they have already coordinated with the Commission on Audit regarding the notice of disallowance.
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On Tuesday, no less than Majority Leader Manuel Jose Dalipe said that Duterte may be liable for graft if she cannot explain how funds were spent.