LAWMAKERS from the House of Representatives are eyeing significant cuts in the proposed P2.037 billion budget of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) next year after Vice President Sara Duterte snubbed the resumption of the budget hearing yesterday.
The House Committee on Appropriations deferred the termination of the OVP budget deliberations for the second time.
Rep. Zaldy Co (PL, Ako Bicol), committee chairperson, vowed to recommend that funds for the OVP’s social services be transferred to line agencies like the Department of Social Welfare and Development and the Department of Education.
Co cited the alleged poor track record of the Vice President in handling public funds, such as the handling of the P125 million confidential funds (CF) of the OVP that was spent in just 11 days in 2022, and the more than P12 billion expenditures of the Department of Education (DepEd), which she used to head as secretary, that were either suspended or disallowed by the Commission on Audit in its 2023 annual report.
“Amid all these funds misuse and apparent corruption, should we still entrust her with another P2 billion in 2025?” Co asked the panel. “Now, should we give her P2 billion that she claims the OVP will use to help the poor? We should give this instead to the right agency. We will not allow even a single peso to again be squandered.”
Not even a single representative from the OVP attended yesterday’s hearing, but in a letter to Speaker Martin Romualdez dated September 10, Duterte said the OVP has already “submitted all necessary documentation to the House of Representatives — Committee on Appropriations, including a detailed presentation on the proposed budget for fiscal year 2025.”
“I have also articulated my position on the issues outlined in my opening statement during the previous hearing on 27 August 2024. We defer entirely to the discretion and judgment of the Committee regarding our budget proposal for the upcoming year,” the Vice President said.
Tensions flared during the deliberations on the OVP’s proposed budget on August 27 after Duterte stonewalled questions on the notice of disallowance that the Commission on Audit (COA) has issued to the OVP for its use of confidential funds in 2022, saying it is up to the House to decide on her office’s budget proposal.
A combative Duterte was repeatedly told to respect the panel after she repetitively questioned the rulings of presiding chair Marikina Rep. Stella Quimbo and the House rules and even tried to raise motions of despite not being a member of the chamber.
The Vice President’s defiant stance led to the deferment of the deliberations as lawmakers did not take sitting down what they said were Duterte’s insults against the institution.
Co said the committee will eventually have to decide what to do with the OVP’s proposed budget, the deliberations on which were considered to be conditionally terminated pending the panel’s decision.
At the start of the hearing, Rep. Rodante Marcoleta (PL, Sagip) moved to terminate the deliberations, citing the House’s tradition of extending parliamentary courtesy to the OVP.
“Up to 2023, we have kept the tradition. Now, several questions have been raised. In 2023, 22 minutes; 2022, 13 minutes. We have been fighting about the budget earlier, and now we are about to quarrel again on the budget,” he said.
“The Vice President skipped the hearing. I suppose it was because of what happened during the last hearing. I have heard the volume and the barrage of questions asked by members of this committee to the Vice President. Despite the fact Madam Chair, I heard her several times saying ‘I forgo the opportunity of defending the OVP budget for 2025 by question and answer, and I leave it to the House of Representatives to decide on such a proposal as presented’,” Marcoleta said.
Quimbo had to divide the House and Marcoleta’s motion was defeated after a vote of 45 against three.
Rep. Raul Angelo Bongalon (PL, Ako Bicol) later moved for the deferment of the budget deliberations.
“Madam Chair, 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 number one, reduce the proposed budget of the (OVP) and number two, place certain funds on hold until further discussions are held. I so move, Madam Chair,” he added.
Bongalon’s motion was approved by Quimbo after it was duly seconded and no one raised an objection.
‘SHIMINET’
Militant Makabayan bloc members party-list Reps. Arlene Brosas (Gabriela) and France Castro (ACT) assailed the OVP for insulting Congress once again.
“Madam Chair, isang insulto sa mga mamayang Pilipino at sa mga kinatawan dito sa loob ng Kongreso na hinalal ng mamamayan. Ang hiling natin, makapagpaliwanag ng accountability (Madam Chair, it is an insult to the Filipino people and to the representatives here in Congress who were elected by the people. We asked that she explain and show accountability),” Brosas said.
Brosas also referenced the Vice President’s lines from the previous hearing when, referring to Castro, she told the committee: “She may not like my answer, she may not like the content of my answer, but I am answering (the questions).”
The “she may not” line recently trended on social media after netizens noticed that the way the Vice President pronounced the words sounded like “shiminet.”
“She may not like our questions last hearing, Madam Chair. She may not like being questioned about the OVP expenses. She may not like sitting with us here in the House. But, Madam Chair, she is accountable to the people and she has this sworn duty to the Constitution, being the head of the agency, to be here,” Brosas said.
For her part, Castro, who earlier slammed the Vice President for her “squid tactics,” said Duterte only proved that she is a brat, an allegation which the former Davao City mayor earlier tried to belie in an interview.
“Talagang bratinella. Bratinella to the max, no, na ayaw na ngang matanong, umiiwas sa mga tanong (that she doesn’t want to be asked), Madam Chair,” she told the panel. “It is her duty to answer questions here. This is non-negotiable. There should be no sacred cows in budget hearings. The OVP should be reminded that public office is a public trust. She should be faithful to that trust.”
“Pasensya na po ang taumbayan, binoycott tayo ng Vice President (Sorry to the people, the Vice President boycotted us),” she said. “Wala pa ako natatandaan na ahensya ng gobyerno o executive branch na binoycott ang Kongreso dito sa budget hearing and deliberation…Ano ito, betrayal of her oath of office (I don’t remember any agency of government or executive branch that boycotted Congress her in the budget hearing and deliberation…This is a betrayal of her oath of office.)”
Rep. Bienvenido Abante said the Vice President’s letter was not enough to defend her office’s proposed budget “and because she is not present, she is actually insulting this sacred institution that should scrutinize the budget of the Vice President.
“And I do not care even if she is the Vice President, Madam Chair, I will not allow that Congress will be insulted by the head of any agency,” said the lawmaker, one of the chairmen of the House quad committee which is investigating, among other issues, the extrajudicial killings under the administration of the Vice President’s father, former president Rodrifo Duterte.
Rep. Jude Acidre (PL, Tingo) said the Vice President’s absence was “a gross neglect of her constitutional duty to ensure accountability and transparency in the use of public funds.”
“The Vice President’s deliberate snub of the budget hearing shows a blatant disregard for her constitutional duty to answer to Congress and the Filipino people. This isn’t just about skipping a meeting–it’s about intentionally avoiding accountability, which is fundamental to public service,” Acidre said.
Acidre condemned Duterte’s actions, saying it is “a blatant violation of the core principles of governance and accountability.”
“Public service is not a privilege; it is a responsibility. VP Sara’s absence is a remiss of her constitutional duty to ensure transparency and accountability in the use of taxpayers’ money,” Acidre stressed. “This act of dodging scrutiny undermines the very essence of democratic governance, which relies on checks and balances.”
Bongalon said it was “disheartening to see the Vice President avoid the scrutiny that comes with public office. Her actions show a lack of respect not only for Congress but for every Filipino.”
“If she cannot face the very institution responsible for overseeing government funds, how can she claim to serve the people effectively?” Bongalon said. “Hindi ito ugali ng isang tunay na pinuno, para siyang batang nagtatago kapag napapagalitan (This isn’t the attitude of a true leader. She’s like a scolded child who’s hiding).”
Zambales Rep. Jeffrey Khonghun said: “Her absence is not just an insult to Congress but to the Filipino people who deserve answers about how their money is being spent. This act of snubbing the budget deliberation reeks of a bratty attitude unbecoming of someone holding the second highest office in the land.”
‘CONTROLLING THE BUDGET’
In a recorded interview which was released by the OVP to reporters, the younger Duterte accused the Speaker and Co of allegedly “controlling” the annual national budget even if the measure is deliberated upon in the bicameral level with senators.
“Ang budget ng Pilipinas ay hawak lang ng dalawang tao. Hawak lang siya ni Cong. Zaldy Co at ni Cong. Martin Romualdez. ‘Yan ang katotohanan (The budget of the Philippines is being controlled by two people, Cong. Zaldy Co and by Cong. Martin Romualdez. That’s the truth),” she said.
Duterte, who served education secretary from 2022 until last June, said congressmen added P10 billion to the DepEd’s proposed P5 billion for classroom construction under the 2023 National Expenditure Program (NEP).
“Kaya kung makikita ninyo sa budget proposal na approved ng Office of the President, P5 billion ‘yun. Pero noong lumabas ‘yung GAA (General Appropriations Act) o ‘yung budget approved noong 2023, naging P15 billion siya… dinagdagan nila ng P10 billion ‘yung classroom construction ng Department of Education (So if you can see in the budget proposal approved by the Office of the President, it was P5 billion. But when the GAA or the approved budget in 2023 came out, it became P15 billion because I did not agree for the P5 billion to be taken out. They added P10 billion to the classroom construction of the Department of Education),” she said.
“‘Yung P10 billion na ‘yun hindi kontrolado ng Department of Education. Controlled ‘yun ni Cong. Zaldy Co at Cong. Martin Romualdez (That P10 billion is not controlled by the Department of Education. It was controlled by Cong. Zaldy Co and Cong. Martin Romualdez),” she added.
Co laughed off the Vice President’s accusation, saying the appropriations panel has 139 members with 56 vice chairmen who all have a say on how the annual budget will be allocated, along with senators who meet them in the bicameral level.
“Mayroon pa pong bicam na mag-uusap ang dalawang (kapulungan), upper chamber and lower chamber. Almost 30 po ang nag-aattend diyan in public (We have a bicam where the two chambers, the upper chamber and the lower chamber talk. It has almost 30 members attending the public hearings). So, hindi po totoo iyan (So that’s not true),” he told reporters.
LIABLE FOR GRAFT?
House Majority Leader Manuel Jose Dalipe said the Vice President may be liable for graft if she cannot justify the P73.2 million in intelligence expenses disallowed by the COA, which was part of her P125 million confidential funds, and the P12.3 billion in similar “disallowances and suspensions” in the DepEd in 2023.
“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.
In its audit of the P125 million confidential fund of the Office of the Vice President, the COA noted several irregularities, including late submission of liquidation reports, irregularities in notarization dates and the failure to submit required accomplishment reports to pertinent offices in a timely manner.
The House leader said the “most glaring concern is the unexplained disallowance, which amounts to more than half of the confidential funds used by the OVP in 2022.”
“This raises serious questions about the propriety of how these funds were used. The fact that P73 million was flagged means that the public deserves answers. If the Vice President’s office cannot explain or rectify these discrepancies, this could lead to more than just administrative penalties. It could point to criminal liability for graft,” he said.
COA’s audit further revealed that the 2023 confidential fund liquidations are still under scrutiny, with two Audit Observation Memorandums (AOMs) issued covering the first three quarters.
Dalipe noted that while no notices of disallowance have been issued yet, the AOMs suggest significant deficiencies that must be addressed to avoid potential disallowances in the future.
COA’s 2023 audit report of the DepEd, the last full year VP Duterte headed the agency, issued notices of suspension amounting covering P10.1 billion, notices of disallowance totaling P2.2 billion and notices of charges worth P7.38 million due to “noncompliance with existing laws and regulations.”
The COA said it had required “management,” meaning DepEd officials led by Duterte, to return the funds and that they had agreed to do so.
“No one, regardless of position, is above the law. If public funds were misused, we owe it to the Filipino people to hold those responsible accountable,” Dalipe said.
SQUID MEAL
Reporters noticed that during the budget hearing, the House’s catering service served baby squid sauteed in garlic and grilled squid with paella negra, which is rice mixed with squid ink.
“Katatapos lang po ng budget hearing dito sa Office of the Vice President (OVP), nakita niyo naman binoycott tayo, pero masarap ‘tong lunch ngayon a, may pusit saka paella negra. Tikman nga natin kung gaano kasarap (The budget hearing on the Office of the Vice President’s proposed budget has just finished. As you can see, we were boycotted but our lunch today is good, there’s squid and paella negra. Let’s try it to know how delicious it is),” Castro said in a video she posted on social media.
It was Castro who first called out the Vice President for her “squid tactics” in the previous hearing. “Kapag nasusukol na ang pusit, naglalabas na ng (itim na) tinta…ugaling pusit ang OVP (When a squid is cornered, it spews out black ink…the OVP’s attitude is like that of a squid),” she said then.
