Manuel to VP Sara: Attending budget debates an obligation, not optional

Vice President Sara Duterte refuses to take oath during the House good government committee hearing on September 18, 2024. (Photo from House of Representatives Media Affairs Bureau)

MANILA, Philippines — Kabataan Party-list Rep. Raoul Manuel believes part of the obligation of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) to the people is to attend plenary debates on their proposed budget.

He added that participating in this proceeding is not optional.

At the House plenary session on Tuesday — after deliberations on the General Appropriations Bill were suspended — Manuel claimed that the OVP has been spreading wrong information on social media about presence at the budget deliberations being optional.

“It has to be noted for the record na nagkakalat pa ang OVP ng panlilinlang sa Facebook page nito, pinapalabas na optional ang pag-depensa sa proposed budget,” Manuel told lawmakers.

(It must be noted that the OVP is misleading people through its Facebook page. They are making it appear that defending the proposed budget is optional.)

“Mr. Speaker, naghintay tayo kahapon for 17 hours hanggang 3:00 a.m. kanina. Nag-resume today. Naghintay tayo ulit ngayong araw,” he said.

(Mr. Speaker, we waited for 17 hours yesterday until 3:00 a.m. on Tuesday. We resumed the session today. We stayed for another day.)

“Mr. Speaker, that’s because for the OVP to appear and to answer budget-related questions is not an option. It is an obligation,” he stressed.

Manuel also disputed Vice President Sara Duterte’s statements that the OVP’s proposed budget for 2025 was discussed by the House on Monday.

He said this is not true because no official representative came to assist their budget sponsor, Lanao del Sur 1st District Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong.

This marks the second day that neither Duterte nor any authorized representative from the OVP was present at the House plenary for the budget debates.

“Mr. Speaker, sabi ng nakaupong bise presidente sa isang public event kahapon, and I quote: ‘Hinahanap nila ako ngayon sa House of Representatives kasi pinag-uusapan nila ang budget ng Office of the Vice President,’” Manuel said.

(Mr. Speaker, the sitting vice president said in a public event yesterday, and I quote: ‘They in the House of Representatives are looking for me because they are discussing the Office of the Vice President’s budget.’)

“Mr. Speaker, kailangan po, maging malinaw na hindi totoo na pinag-usapan kahapon ang budget ng [OVP].  Hindi po ‘yon mapag-uusapan dahil hindi sumipot ang nakaupong vice president o kahit ni isang duly authorized representative,” he added.

(Mr. Speaker, we need to clarify that it is not true that the OVP budget was discussed yesterday. It was not discussed because the sitting vice president or even one duly authorized representative from the OVP did not show up.)

Just before Manuel made this manifestation, Senior Deputy Minority Leader and Northern Samar 1st District Rep. Paul Daza made a motion to include discussions on OVP’s budget at the plenary debates scheduled for September 25, Wednesday.

Daza said this will ensure that Duterte’s office is given another opportunity to be present — after skipping Monday and Tuesday’s plenary debates.

OVP on Monday sent an officer to aid budget sponsor Lanao del Sur 1st District Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong during the interpellations, but the officer did not carry a letter of authorization with him.

The same officer did not return even as the House waited until 3:00 a.m. on Tuesday.

READ: As OVP skips plenary debates anew, House again reschedules talks 

Minority Leader Marcelino Libanan confirmed on Monday that the House was really scheduled to deliberate the OVP proposed budget at 10:00 a.m., but the absence of an authorized representative forced the chamber to ask other agencies to go first.

READ: Sara Duterte, OVP rep no-show yet at House plenary debate on budget 

On September 10, at the second round of talks at the House committee on appropriations hearings, neither Duterte nor any member of the OVP also showed up to respond to questions.

These absences — coupled with Duterte’s refusal to directly answer questions regarding her office’s past budget utilization — prompted Manuel to call the vice president’s actions a betrayal of public trust.

READ: Sara Duterte skipping budget debates ‘betrayal of public trust’ – solon 

OVP was originally allocated a P2.037 billion budget under the 2025 National Expenditures Program (NEP).

But lawmakers from the House decided to cut this down to just P733 million due to Duterte’s behavior and revelations that some OVP programs suffered from low budget utilization.

READ: OVP hit for using only 0.4% of its Magnegosyo Ta Day funds 

During the budget deliberations, it was also revealed that some OVP programs suffered from low utilization, like in the case of the “Magnegosyo Ta Day” program, where only 0.04 percent of funds as of December 2023 — P600,000 out of P150 million — were used.