Vice Pres. Sara Duterte Set Conditions with House of Representatives
SARA DUTERTE – The Vice President urged the House of Representatives to demand for the attendance of Pres. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. in the plenary deliberation of the proposed budget of his office for 2026.
The House of Representatives and the Congress deliberated the budget proposals of the different offices and agencies under the government. Previously, Vice Pres. Duterte appeared at the House for the budget hearing and she also attended the Senate budget hearing over the proposed budget of her office amounting to P902.9 million for 2026.
The P902.9 million budget request of Vice Pres. Sara Duterte’s office for 2026 was swiftly approved by Senate Finance panel. Minority Senator Jinggoy Estrada even offered to give all their budget insertions to the OVP — seemingly a chide on Sen. Ping Lacson who claimed that almost all senators of the 19th Congress had budget insertions.
Recently, the House of Representatives had scheduled a plenary deliberations of the proposed budget of the Office of the Vice President for 2026. However, based on a report on GMA News, Vice Pres. Sara Duterte skipped the said budget deliberations.
According to Palawan Representative Jose “Pepito” Alvarez, Vice Pres. Sara Duterte set conditions for her attendance to the said plenary deliberations of the proposed budget of OVP for 2026. She urged the House to demand the attendance of Pres. Bongbong Marcos to the plenary deliberations to defend the P27.3 proposed budget of the OP for 2026.
Vice Pres. Sara Duterte also stated in her letter to the House of Representatives that the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability must show her a document that proves that the Department of Justice has lifted the Immigration Lookout Bulletin Order (ILBO) on the following personnel of her office:
- OVP Chief-of-Staff Zuleika T. Lopez
- Assistant Secretary Lemuel Ortonio
- Director, Administrative and Financial Services Office Rosalynne Sanchez
- Director, Strategy Management Office Sunshine Charry Fajarda
- OVP Special Disbursing Officer Gina Acosta
- Chief Accountant Julieta Villadelrey
- Special Disbursement Officer Edward Fajarda
Based on the report, the House of Representatives did not give in to the demands of Vice Pres. Duterte. Thus, she did not appear at the plenary deliberations of the proposed budget of the OVP for 2026. Alvarez stood for the budget of Duterte’s office no question was fielded by any House member.
Instead, some members of the lower chamber expressed their disappointment over the alleged “disrespect” of Duterte to the institution. Former Senator Leila de Lima asked, “Who is she to disrespect our institution? Enough of her brattiness.”
Previously, during a Senate budget hearing on the proposed budget of the OVP, Sen. Bong Go offered to give some of the budget of his office to Vice Pres. Sara Duterte’s office for her to be “working vice president”.