Sara expects OVP budget cut

Vice President Sara Duterte is not holding her breath when it comes to next year’s budget for her office — she’s expecting to receive the same amount as last year’s P733 million or even a lower outlay from the House appropriations committee.

“It’ll be the same as last year. The administration hasn’t changed — same President, same Speaker of the House,” Duterte said in Filipino at the Kadayawan Festival in Davao City on Monday.

“So we’re not expecting anything more for the Office of the Vice President. Whatever the Department of Budget and Management approved is what we submitted, that’s what’s in the NEP (National Expenditure Program). And of course, our expectation is that the House will bring it down when it gets there,” she said.

Last year, the House slashed the OVP’s proposed P2 billion budget to P733 million after Duterte refused to address questions about the alleged misuse of confidential funds of her office and of the Department of Education, which she had headed at the time.

For 2026, the OVP is seeking a budget of P903 million, according to spokesperson Ruth Castelo, but Duterte believes it won’t survive intact.

On ‘habitual absence’ allegations

Duterte also pushed back against critics accusing her of being “habitually absent.”

“Habitual absence where? I don’t even know what they’re talking about,” she said. “This is just the style of anti-Duterte people — they throw accusations without any basis, no evidence. And they don’t even bother to bring them to the proper forum or venue.”

She challenged lawmakers to release their own travel records.

“Maybe they should also show the travel schedules of House members before they start pointing fingers at people for constantly traveling,” Duterte said.

She said her trips abroad weren’t for leisure.

“I don’t travel just because I want to. I travel because our Filipino communities overseas are frustrated with what’s happening in our country. And second, I visit my father who is detained,” she said.

Her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, is being held at the International Criminal Court detention facility in The Hague, Netherlands, where he is facing crimes against humanity charges over the alleged extrajudicial killings during his war on drugs.

On impeachment, confidential funds issue

The Vice President also said she is ready to respond to all accusations related to the alleged misuse of confidential funds — the issue that sparked her impeachment case.

“If there’s a case, we’ll explain it in the proper forum,” she said. “When they filed the articles of impeachment, our defense team was ready to answer the accusations of the House prosecutors.”

“When the case reached the Supreme Court, we gave everything the Court asked for. In the right forum and venue, we will provide the right answers and explanations to all accusations,” she added.