Lawmaker assails senators’ ‘tradition’ tack

ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro —Photo from House of Representative FB Page

MANILA, Philippines — ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro on Saturday assailed lawmakers who opposed the House of Representatives’ cuts in the budget of the Office of the Vice President (OVP).

“Transparency and accountability must be above traditions,” she said in a statement. “If not, then we will [just have] dogmas that do not serve the interest of the people but those of their oppressors.”

Castro argued that it was more important to uphold transparency and accountability over traditions in government practices—including the ones that allow the Offices of the President and Vice President to sail through budget deliberations every year without being scrutinized.

READ: VP Sara finds budget defender in Villanueva

The controversy emerged after Sen. Joel Villanueva said the House should restore the budget for Vice President Sara Duterte even after she refused to account for the P4.05 billion that was allotted in her care in 2023 and 2024, excluding the leftover funds she got upon assuming office in 2022.

Villanueva said the House should respect the congressional tradition of approving the proposed budget of the President and Vice President without scrutiny.

There is no law that requires legislative traditions be prioritized over public accountability, but the Constitution mandates the accountability of public officers in the 18 sections of Article XI.

Section 1 of the article provides: “Public office is a public trust. Public officers and employees must, at all times, be accountable to the people, serve them with utmost responsibility, integrity, loyalty and efficiency, act with patriotism and justice, and lead modest lives.”

The Supreme Court has also repeatedly ruled over the years that public accountability be enforced in the government. Notable cases include Araullo v. Aquino (GR No. 209287) and Garcia v. Board of Investments (G.R. No. 92024).

However, former Sen. Panfilo Lacson echoed Villanueva’s argument to approve the Vice President’s requested allocation of P2.03 billion in toto.

“In my 18 years in the Senate, we followed that time-honored tradition of extending interdepartmental courtesy to the OP, the OVP and even the judiciary,” Lacson said in an interview with “Usapang Senado” over radio dwIZ.

He said it was unfortunate Duterte and representatives had a “testy exchange” about the OVP’s budget, but Lacson never said that Duterte must account for the P4.05 billion that had already been given to her before she gets P2.03 billion more.