House calls off plenary hearing on OVP budget

PARLIAMENTARY COURTESY Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin (left) and Sen. Grace Poe, Senate committee on finance chair, shake hands before the start of the Senate hearing on the proposed 2025 budget for the Office of the President on Monday. The P10.5-billion budget request was approved in less than 10 minutes because of the Senate’s tradition of according parliamentary courtesy to a co-equal branch of the government. —Richard A. Reyes

MANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives on Monday deferred plenary debates on the proposed 2025 budget of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) after its head stuck to her previous stance of leaving the matter in the hands of lawmakers.

Vice President Sara Duterte’s absence, however, could firm up the recommendation of the House appropriations committee to slash the OVP’s budget from P2.037 billion to P733 million following reports that she supposedly prioritized a beach outing over the hearing.

An online news website reported that after her meeting with former Vice President Leni Robredo in Naga City last week, Duterte was spotted on Calaguas Island in Camarines Norte. It also published a photo of her with six others.

As of Monday, the OVP media staff has not responded to any questions about Duterte’s whereabouts.

Appropriations panel chief Elizaldy Co told the Inquirer the deferment was necessary after Duterte declined a request for a meeting from the OVP budget sponsor, Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Adiong.

Unprecedented

“This is unprecedented. No other agency at any time in the House’s history refused to help the sponsor defend their budget,” Co said.

He likened Duterte’s actions to “cutting classes” or truancy when there were critical issues that needed to be tackled.

In a Sept. 11 letter addressed to Adiong, Duterte acknowledged and declined the appropriations committee vice chair’s request for a meeting to discuss the OVP’s proposed budget.

Smooth sailing

Saying she had “duly submitted all the required documents to the committee about its budget request for the upcoming year,” Duterte said she was leaving “the deliberation of our budget proposal in the plenary entirely to the pleasure of the House of Representatives.”

In contrast, over at the Senate, the Office of the President’s (OP) proposed 2025 budget was approved by the finance committee in less than 10 minutes.

Sen. Grace Poe, who presided over the hearing, quickly recommended the approval of Marcos’ P10.5-billion budget request for plenary deliberations since not a single senator asked Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin any questions.

During the hearing, Bersamin assured senators the Palace recognizes the authority of the legislature to scrutinize the spending performance of all state agencies, including the OP.

He also said that Malacañang would comply with all of Congress’ requirements in connection with its usage of public funds for its programs and operations.

His remarks were in stark contrast with Duterte’s combative stance when the House tried to grill her on how the OVP used the confidential funds in its 2023 budget.

She also engaged Sen. Risa Hontiveros in a testy exchange when the latter asked her about the OVP’s P10-million budget request for a children’s book authored by Duterte. —with a report from Dempsey Reyes