VP Sara skips budget hearing anew

Vice President Sara Duterte did not defend her office's proposed budget for 2025 at the plenary, leaving its approval "entirely" to the House of Representatives.

The Office of the Vice President (OVP) was scheduled to defend its P733-million allocation at the House plenary on Monday at 10:00 a.m.

However, hours before the deliberations, the OVP released a letter stating that they "leave the deliberation of our budget proposal in the plenary entirely to the pleasure of the House of Representatives."

In the letter dated 11 September, Duterte said she acknowledged the request of Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Adiong—OVP's budget sponsor—for a meeting to review the OVP's proposed budget.

However, she maintained that, as previously discussed, "the OVP has duly submitted all the required documents" to the Committee on Appropriations.

"Furthermore, a comprehensive overview of our proposals was presented during my presentation on 27 August 2024," Duterte said in the letter.

In a briefing on Monday, Minority Floor Leader Marcelino Libanan disclosed that the OVP sent a representative "without written authorization."

On the same day of snubbing the budget deliberation, photos of Duterte—wearing a blue shirt and a white printed shorts—made rounds on various social media platforms.  

A report revealed that Duterte spent the weekend on Calaguas Island in Camarines Norte after her controversial catch-up meeting with her predecessor, Leni Robredo. Duterte reportedly left the province on Monday. 

House Assistant Majority Leader stressed that such an action was "deeply concerning," especially from a top official whose office "plays a significant role in national governance."

The OVP's allocation plunged to P733.198 million from the initial P2.026 billion after the appropriations panel "unanimously" agreed to slash P1.293 billion, citing its "overextended" offices and social services "overlapping" with those with other state agencies.

The budget cut follows Duterte's failure to justify her confidential spending of P125 million in 2022—of which P73.287 million was disallowed by the Commission on Audit—and her skipping the second budget hearing on 10 September.

In addition to the P73.287 million in disallowed expenses, CoA also flagged the P164 million in confidential funds of the OVP in 2023, Duterte's first full year in office.

Earlier, House Majority Floor Leader Manuel Jose Dalipe warned that Duterte may be liable for graft charges if she continues to defy calls to explain how the funds were spent.

The VP, currently at odds with the House leadership, claimed that "defunding" her office was part of the political attack against her ahead of the 2025 and 2028 polls—an allegation repeatedly denied by the lower chamber.

Nevertheless, she maintained that the OVP could function even without a budget.

The funds to be slashed from the OVP budget will be realigned to the Department of Health's Medical Assistance to Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients and the Department of Social Welfare and Development's Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation, which would both receive P646.58 million. 

Aside from the alleged misuse of the P125 million secret funds—which were only spent in  11 days in December 2022—Duterte is also under fire for leaving the Department of Education (DepEd) with a whopping P12.3 billion in disallowances, suspensions, and charges that remained unsettled by the year-end of 2023.

The VP headed the DepEd for nearly two years until her abrupt resignation on 19 June at the height of the dispute between her family and her UniTeam tandem, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.