Vice President Sara Duterte’s refusal to defend the Office of the Vice President’s (OVP) budget and her reluctance to respond to inquiries sparked a contentious debate with lawmakers during the House hearing on the OVP budget for 2025 on Tuesday.
"I will forgo the opportunity to defend the budget of the Office of the Vice President through a question and answer and I will leave it to the House to decide on the budget submitted," Duterte stated during the hearing
"So magsasayang tayo ng oras dito, paulit-ulit ‘yung sagot," she added.
Kabataan Partylist Representative Raoul Manuel reiterated the proper procedure for the budget hearing, citing the established rules of the Committee on Appropriations.
"After mag present ng ating mga resource persons, they are given time kung may slides sila, may videos sila, mag-speech sila, nasa kanila po ‘yon. After that ay magpproceed sa questions ng ating mga mambabatas," Manuel said.
"Kung iniiba natin ‘yung format, ‘yan ay pagbabali sa established rules ng komite," he added.
Furthermore, ACT Teachers Partylist Representative France Castro questioned how the Office of the Vice President spent PHP 125 million within just 11 days in 2022.
Instead of responding, Duterte questioned why Castro was still in Congress despite being convicted of child abuse.
"I do not understand bakit a person convicted of child abuse is still sitting in a seat of the House of Representatives," Duterte responded.
Duterte asserted that addressing the issue of intelligence and confidential funds would be a waste of time, as she was invited to discuss and defend the proposed PHP 2.037 billion budget of the OVP 2025.
Representative Manuel stated that Duterte is diverting the discussion, similar to what she recently did in the Senate. He emphasized that this should not be allowed to happen in the House of Representatives.
“It’s another point of order, kapag may mga deliberasyon tayo, we should stick to the topic. Hindi pwede na dina-divert natin ‘yung usapan para hindi natin sagutin ‘yung mga tanong ng mambabatas natin,” Rep. Manuel said.
He added that the budget proceedings provide the most formal opportunity for the public to observe and learn the Vice President’s responses.
Duterte kept on interjecting the lawmakers and requested that the presiding officer be replaced with the chairperson of the Finance Committee.
Ako Bicol Representative Elizaldy Co chairs the House Appropriations Committee, while Representative Quimbo serves as the senior vice chairperson.
Quimbo noted that Duterte, as a resource person, does not have the authority to make such motions. In response, the Vice President clarified that she was merely making a request.
"I remind also our resource persons to please act in a respectful manner," Quimbo said.
"Pasensya na po, hindi kasama sa puder ninyo ang pag-fire ng presiding officer ng hearing na ‘to," she added.
After nearly four hours of the Vice President's refusal to answer questions about her office's budget, the House panel, as moved by Zambales 1st District Representative Jefferson Konghun, decided to defer the OVP budget.
