Sara Duterte says Romualdez, Co manipulate national budget allocation

FROM LEFT: Martin Romualdez, Sara Duterte, and Elizaldy Co. (Photos from RTVM/LIVE, Voltaire F. Domingo/Senate Social Media Unit, Rep. Zaldy Co/FACEBOOK)

MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte accused Speaker Martin Romualdez and House committee on appropriations chair Zaldy Co (Ako Bicol Party-list) of controlling and manipulating the allocation of the national budget.

In a video of an interview shared with members of the media by the Office of the Vice President (OVP) on Tuesday, Duterte said:

“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 held by only two people. Cong just controls it. Zaldy Co and Cong. Martin Romualdez. That’s the truth.)

The OVP said Duterte’s interview happened on Sept. 4 but did not say where the interview took place and who was interviewing Duterte.

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According to Duterte, Romualdez and Co control and manipulate the budget allocation as they see fit for their personal gain.

She cited a particular incident involving the DepEd’s 2023 budget in which P5 billion was allocated for classroom construction. But Duterte said some members of the House then suddenly asked for a share of that budget, which she refused and insisted on using it for classroom needs.

Because of this, the House allegedly raised the budget by P10 billion – a portion “controlled” by Romualdez and Co.

“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) ‘yung budget approved noong 2023, naging P15 billion siya dahil hindi nga ako pumayag na kunin ‘yung P5 billion, dinagdagan nila ng P10 billion ‘yung classroom construction ng Department of Education,” said Duterte.

(So if you can see in the budget proposal approved by the Office of the President, that’s P5 billion. But when the GAA came out, the budget approved in 2023, it became P15 billion because I did not agree to take the P5 billion, they added P10 billion to the classroom construction of the Department of Education.)

“‘Yung P10 billion na ‘yun hindi kontrolado ng Department of Education. Controlled ‘yun ni Cong. Zaldy Co at Cong. Martin Romualdez. Hindi ko na kailangan ng corroborative witness dito dahil makikita ninyo ‘yun sa papel. Makikita ng taumbayan ‘yun sa papel. NEP (National Expenditure Program), P5 billion. Lumabas ang budget approved, P15 billion,” she added.

(The Department of Education does not control P10 billion. Cong. controlled that. Zaldy Co. and Cong. Martin Romualdez. I don’t need a corroborative witness here because you can see it in the paper. The people will see that in the paper. NEP, P5 billion. The approved budget that came out was P15 billion.)

The same thing allegedly happened to the DepEd’s 2024 budget in which the proposed P19 billion for classroom construction – as approved by the Office of the President – was raised by the House to P24 billion, according to Duterte who led the education agency until she resigned last June.

“At doon sa P24 billion na ‘yun, kung hahanapin mo sa papel, kinuha nila ang P5 billion ng repairs ng classroom at nilagay nila doon sa P19 billion para maging P24 billion siya. So, ang naiwan sa repairs, sa kawawang mga classroom ay P1 billion,” she said.

(And out of that P24 billion, if you look on paper, they took P5 billion for classroom repairs and put it in P19 billion to make it P24 billion. So, what was left in the repairs, in the poor classrooms is P1 billion.)

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“Kaya makikita ninyo sa papel, nandiyan ‘yan, naging P24 billion at hindi lang ‘yan, dahil noong 2023 ay hindi ako pumayag na hindi masunod ‘yung DepEd na rules sa paano mag-classroom construction based on need, ang ginawa ngayong 2024, in-attach nila ang listahan na kung saan gagawin ang mga classroom construction worth P17 billion. Makikita ninyo ‘yun sa papel,” she added.

(So you can see on paper, it’s there, it became P24 billion and that’s not all, because in 2023 I did not agree to not follow the DepEd rules on how to do classroom construction based on need, what was done this 2024, in -they attached the list where the classroom construction worth P17 billion will be done. You can see that in the paper.)

Duterte said this is the reason why she resigned from her post as Education Secretary and refused to go through the question and answer portion of the OVP’s budget deliberations in the House of Representatives.

“Dagdag ko lang ‘yan doon sa confirmation na kinuha nila ‘yung budget ng DepEd. At isa ‘yan sa mga rason kung bakit ako nag-resign sa Department of Education. Hindi na ako papayag na sa susunod na taon ganyan pa rin ang gawin nila at ako ‘yung mananagot sa ginagawa nila,” said Duterte.

(I just added that to the confirmation that they took the DepEd budget. And that is one of the reasons why I resigned from the Department of Education. I will not allow them to do the same next year and I will be responsible for what they do.)

“Kaya ‘yan ‘yung sinasabi ko, ‘Oh, bakit pa tayo mag-question and answer dito para atakihin ninyo ako. Eh, ang masusunod lang naman sa budget dalawang tao lang’,” she added.

(So that’s what I’m saying, ‘Oh, why should we do a question and answer here so that you can attack me. Eh, the only two people are in charge of the budget.)