Vice Pres. Sara Duterte Snubs OVP Budget Deliberation at House of Representatives
SARA DUTERTE – The Vice President is absent at the OVP budget deliberation of the House of Representatives and it disappointed the members.
Recently, budget deliberations for the budget proposal of the different state offices and agencies for the year 2025 were held in the Senate and in the House of Representatives. One of which was the proposed budget of the OVP or the Office of the Vice President.
Like in many other budget deliberations, the budget proposal of the OVP for the year 2025 went through scrutiny from the lawmakers and the House members. The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) previously announced that P2 billion is being sought by the office of Vice Pres. Duterte for 2025.
According to the budget department, there are no confidential funds included in the budget proposal of the OVP for 2025. However, there is a P10 million budget allotted for the distribution of the books authored by Duterte.
At the Senate hearing, Senator Risa Hontiveros and Vice Pres. Sara Duterte had a clash. The lawmaker moved for the re-allocation of the assistance program funds to the relevant agencies and she also asked about the budget allocated for the distribution of the book authored by the Vice President.
Duterte accused Hontiveros of politicizing saying that it is because the book will be given to learners who have parents who can vote and it has her name on it. The OVP stressed that the book has good intentions.
However, at the OVP budget deliberation at the House of Representatives, Vice Pres. Sara Duterte also had a heated exchange with some members of the House. ACT Teachers party-list representative France Castro is disappointed by the way that the Vice President responds to the questions.
The House deliberation was rescheduled. However, at the resumption of the deliberation of the OVP budget proposal for 2025 today, Vice Pres. Sara Duterte is absent. She sent a letter to the House addressed to Speaker Martin Romualdez.
According to Vice Pres. Duterte, they rely to the judgment of the committee. She also stressed in her letter that she has expressed her position on the issues regarding the budget proposal.
“We defer entirely to the discretion and judgment of the committee regarding our proposed budget for the incoming year,” the Vice President said.
Based on a report on ABS-CBN News, several members of the House of Representatives are disappointed by the move of Vice Pres. Sara Duterte. ACT Teachers party-list representative even called her “bratinella to the max”.
“Betrayal ito of her oath of office… Talagang bratinella to the max!” Castro said.
Based on the report, the members of the committee set for the budget deliberation waited for one hour but the Vice President didn’t come. Manila Representative Bienvenido Abante called out Duterte and her office for “insulting” the House.
“She is insulting this institution… I do not care even if she is the vice president. I will not allow Congress to be insulted by any agency,” he expressed.