MANILA, Philippines — Transparency and accountability should be prioritized over traditions in government practices following the recent scrutiny of the 2025 budget proposal of the Office of Vice President (OVP), Alliance of Concerned Teachers Party-list Rep. France Castro said on Saturday.
According to Castro, transparency and accountability should come first when the public’s welfare is on the line.
“Transparency and accountability must be above traditions,” Castro said in a statement.
“If not, then what we will have are just dogmas that do not serve the interest of the people but those of their oppressors.” she added.
The budget deliberations were previously deferred by the House panel on appropriations after Vice President Sara Duterte evaded almost all questions by the lawmakers who asked about unutilized and controversial funds of different programs of the OVP.
“The Makabayan bloc has consistently scrutinized the budgets of every government agency for years and not just the Office of the Vice President. It is only now though that anomalies of this magnitude had been unearthed at the OVP,” Castro noted.
Senator Joel Villanuava on Friday said he disagrees with the cut in the proposed budget of the OVP made by the House panel on appropriations.
Villanueva said that the House tradition of swiftly passing the budget proposal of the second highest office in the country must be upheld.