VP snubs House panel, tags 2 who ‘control’ national budget

Vice President Sara Duterte —Photo from the House of Representatives

MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte skipped the second House committee hearing on her office’s budget and instead accused two ranking lawmakers of “controlling” the national government purse.

In a video clip released by the Office of the Vice President (OVP) on Tuesday, she said “The Philippine budget is controlled by two persons only…. Cong. Zaldy Co and Cong. (and Speaker) Martin Romualdez. That’s the truth.”

In 2023, she said, some House members approached her to ask for a “part” of the P5-billion allocation for the construction of classrooms under the Department of Education (DepEd), which she also headed at the time.

READ: Co, other solons dispute VP Sara’s claim of 2 execs controlling budget

She said she declined their request because DepEd might miss its target, adding: “I told one congressman to tell Martin Romualdez that we cannot split the classroom construction budget.”

P5B became P15B

Yet later, she said, the original funding of P5 billion for classrooms ballooned to P15 billion—as approved by the Office of the President—when it appeared in the General Appropriations Act of 2024.

The additional P10 billion was “not controlled by the Department of Education” at all, she said.

“That is controlled by Cong. Zaldy Co and Cong. Martin Romualdez. I don’t need a corroborative witness on this because you can all see that on paper… In the NEP (National Expenditure Program), P5 billion; but in the budget approved, it was P15 billion.”

This episode was one of her reasons for resigning as education secretary in June, she added.

“So now you understand? Why should we even hold a budget hearing when there are only two people who are in full control of our country’s budget?”

All up to committee

In a statement on Tuesday, the OVP said Duterte was no longer attending the House deliberations since it had submitted “all necessary documentation” and a “detailed presentation” of its budget proposal to the committee.

“[The] OVP defers entirely to the discretion and judgment of the Committee regarding its budget proposal for 2025,” it added.

Duterte also sent a letter addressed to Romualdez, Co and Marikina Rep. Stella Quimbo, the committee’s senior vice chair.

In the letter, Duterte said she had “articulated my position on the issues outlined in my opening statement” at the first hearing on Aug. 27, which was marked by testy exchanges after she declared she would no longer defend the OVP budget.