Vice President Sara Duterte may have set ‘bad precedent’

Vice President Sara Duterte —Official Facebook page of Inday Sara Duterte

MANILA, Philippines — Pun intended or not, they all agreed that Vice President Sara Duterte may have just set a “bad precedent.”

Tuesday’s House deliberations on the proposed 2025 budget of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) broke the mold when it came to parliamentary procedure and simple decorum, according to lawmakers who expressed disappointment at Duterte’s combative behavior during the five-hour hearing.

They were referring to how Duterte, for instance, maintained a disdainful tone as she addressed the presiding officer, Marikina Rep. Stella Quimbo, even making a “request” to have the latter replaced in the middle of the proceedings.

READ: OVP budget deferred after Duterte evades questions at House hearing

Quimbo had to remind the vice president that, being a resource person in the hearing, she could not make what was tantamount to a motion as though she were a committee member.

Even the main sponsor of the OVP budget for plenary debate, Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong, admitted to being taken aback.

“I was expecting more productive exchanges,” Adiong said later in the hearing. “That has been the tradition of the House. This is the first time I saw that the deliberation went this way … as a vice chair (of the House committee on appropriations), as a sponsor, of course, it’s going to be a lot difficult if I bring this to the plenary and sponsor.”

“I’m frustrated at how things went,” he added. “This sets a bad precedent for future budget deliberations.”

‘Scripted answers’

The sentiment was shared by Bataan Rep. Geraldine Roman and Tingog Rep. Jude Acidre.

As the hearing dragged on, they used their allotted time for interpellation to register their observations that Duterte’s behavior had been completely out of the norm.

They noted that it was the “first time” for a resource person expected to defend a government agency’s budget proposal to stick to “formula, scripted answers.”

“I entered this meeting with questions, but I would exit without answers and even more questions,” Roman said. “This was supposedly a crucial forum for us to ensure that the public funds are allocated wisely and effectively.”

“Will it be fair to conclude that the programs under the OVP may not be as high priority or as important as we had hoped for?” asked Acidre, who is also the House deputy majority leader.

“Or should we interpret the response and the demeanor of the Vice President that we, the elected representatives of the people and the people we represent, do not deserve an explanation on how public funds would be spent by her office,” he said.

When Deputy Speaker and Iloilo Rep. Janette Garin started to ask Duterte about OVP projects, the Vice President said she chose to “forgo her opportunity to defend the 2025 budget via question and answer.”

This prompted Garin to ask Quimbo: “In the history of this panel, have we ever ordered someone detained?”

“Never,” Quimbo replied.

The Vice President, who earlier in the hearing took note that she was facing 17 interpellators, said she had decided to appear alone — or without aides to help her answer — “so that if you decide to cite me (for) contempt, I will be the only one in detention.”

The House under the 19th Congress has issued 36 contempt citations to date, but none by the committee on appropriations.

Used to be smooth sailing

The hearing ended with the OVP budget deliberations being deferred for a second session at the committee level—another first for the House, which by tradition had approved the President and Vice President’s budgets with formalities taking only minutes.

Such was the case of the OVP under Duterte’s predecessor, Leni Robredo, whose annual budgets were a mere fraction of the incumbent’s, so small that some lawmakers even pushed to have them increased.

Last year, committee discussions on Duterte’s OVP budget were concluded in 15 minutes, with the President’s son, Ilocos Rep. Sandro Marcos, moving to put the hearing to a close.

But how the office used up P125 million in confidential funds in 11 days in 2022, a matter again brought up on Tuesday, was still unanswered, causing Duterte to go ballistic.