House Members Angered by Absence of Vice Pres. Sara Duterte at OVP Budget Proposal Deliberation
SARA DUTERTE – The Vice President was no show at the resumption of the deliberation of the OVP at the House of Representatives.
All the offices and agencies of the government are bound to make a budget proposal ahead as it will pass through the scrutiny of the Senate and House of Representative members. There were instances of long questioning during the budget deliberation.
However, in the case of the OVP budget proposal for 2025 deliberation, Vice Pres. Sara Duterte got involved in a spar of words with Senator Risa Hontiveros and some of the House members. According to the budget department, the office of VP Duterte is asking for a P2 billion budget for 2025.
The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said that the budget proposal of the OVP for 2025 does not include Confidential Funds. To recall, the OVP was bashed for its rapid spending of its 2022 CIFs.
During the recent Senate deliberation of the OVP budget proposal for 2025, Vice Pres. Sara Duterte had a spar with Senator Risa Hontiveros over the book distribution allotted budget. P10 million is allotted by Duterte’s office for the distribution of the book authored by the Vice President.
The Senator also questioned the similarity of the assistance programs of the OVP to those services of the other agencies. Hontiveros made a motion to re-allocate the budget to the relevant agencies.
At the House of Representatives deliberation of the 2025 budget proposal of the Office of Vice President Sara Duterte, the Vice President also had a spar with some of the House members. ACT Teachers Partylist Representative France Castro did not like the Vice President not answering the questions.
After a heated exchange between Vice Pres. Duterte and some House members, the House deliberation was rescheduled. It was set to resume today.
However, based on a report on ABS-CBN News, Vice Pres. Sara Duterte was no show at the OVP budget hearing at the House of Representatives. The Vice President sent a letter addressed to House Speaker Martin Romualdez.
According to Duterte, her office has submitted all the necessary documents and she believes that she has spoken her stand on the issues regarding the OVP’s proposed budget. The Vice President said that she is leaving the budget in the hands of the committee.
“We defer entirely to the discretion and judgment of the committee regarding our proposed budget for the incoming year,” VP Sara said.
Based on the report, some of the House members are angered and disappointed by Vice Pres. Sara Duterte snubbing the House deliberation of the OVP budget proposal. Committee Senior Vice Chairperson Rep. Stella Quimbo said that they extended their courtesy by waiting for an hour for the Vice President to arrive.
“Talagang bratinella to the max! Ayaw na ngang matanong, umiiwas sa tanong,” — ACT Teachers party-list representative France Castro.
Manila Rep. Bienvenido Abante called out the Vice President and the OVP for “insulting” the House of Representatives. Based on the report, the lawmaker stressed not having care about her position but she will not allow the Congress to be insulted by any agency.