Senators back Hontiveros vs Duterte

Senator Risa Hontiveros has found an ally in her colleagues after her heated exchange with Vice President Sara Duterte over a P10-million budget item in her office’s proposed budget for next year.

According to Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero, Hontiveros has the right to ask questions about the budget of Duterte’s office.

“Senator Risa has the right to ask the questions she directed at Vice President Sara, and it is only appropriate that they be answered by any head of an agency who appears before the Senate and the House regarding their proposed budget,” Escudero told reporters in an ambush interview.

During Tuesday’s Senate subcommittee on finance hearing on the proposed P2.037-billion budget of the Office of the Vice President (OVP), Hontiveros and Duterte traded barbs over a P10 million budget item in her proposed budget for next year.

This was after Hontiveros inquired about the OVP’s P10 million budget for a children’s book entitled “Isang Kaibigan,” authored by Duterte herself and which she intends to distribute to the public.

However, instead of directly answering Hontiveros’ queries about the content of the book, Duterte responded by accusing the former of “politicizing” the budget hearing.

Meanwhile, Senator Grace Poe, chair of the Senate Committee on Finance, who also presided over the OVP’s budget hearing, said that Hontiveros was only doing her job when she inquired about the budget item.

“It is every senator’s duty to scrutinize the budget. No line item in the budget docs should be above scrutiny and questioning,” Po said in a separate statement.

“The question of Senator Risa that pertains to a specific program in the OVP budget where P10 million will be allocated for the distribution of the ‘Isang Kaibigan’ book authored by the VP is well within the lines of the hearing’s agenda,” she added.

Poe reminded public officials to set aside their differences and serve as examples to the public.

“We understand that there will always be differences in opinion, but we can only hope that personal sentiments be placed in the back burner as we go through the objective process of reviewing the budget,” she said.

As public servants, the Finance panel said that: “We need to only be guided by a genuine desire to serve the public good and ensure that public funds truly address the needs of the people.”