OVP poised to face another budget cut after Sara’s no-shows

The proposed budget of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) is poised to incur another cut after Vice President Sara Duterte snubbed the final day of the budget deliberations on Friday, despite being given three extensions by the House of Representatives.

Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Adiong, one of the vice chairs of the House committee on appropriations, disclosed on Sunday that the panel will hold a meeting to deliberate on whether or not to retain the OVP’s current P733.198 million budget for 2026.

Duterte’s office is seeking a P902.895 million budget for next year, a nearly P170 million increase from its current budget.

“I cannot guarantee whether there’s going to be an approval of the increase or the retention of the P733 [million]. What I can assure you is that it will going to be a discussion in the appropriations committee,” Adiong said in an interview. “The House of Representatives is a collegial body, so it works on the collective wisdom of the appropriations.”

Duterte was a no-show on Friday, when she was supposed to defend her budget for the last time. No OVP representatives were also present.

Initially, the OVP was scheduled to appear at the plenary for budget debates on 30 September, but was reset twice due to her non-appearance and the absence of an undersecretary-level representative.

The House set Friday as Duterte’s last chance to appear, but the VP was absent anew as she flew to Cebu to visit the victims of the 6.9 magnitude earthquake that rocked the province.

Adiong said that while the OVP sent representatives on 30 September, the budget deliberations only require a senior or undersecretary-level official to defend the office’s requested allocation.

"These days, the public wants to see and have all agencies explain where their money is going and how it will be used. If there are increases, they want to know how each agency will defend and explain such increases. People are demanding that,” Adiong averred.

In a letter dated 30 September, Duterte told the appropriations panel that she will only attend the deliberations if her two conditions are met: Require President Marcos Jr. to also appear in the House to defend his office’s budget, and if the House committee on good government and accountability produces a document lifting the immigration lookout bulletin orders (ILBO) against seven of her staff members.

The ILBO follows the defiance of the subpoenas issued by the committee on good government and accountability, which were then probing Duterte’s alleged misuse of her millions of confidential funds in the previous Congress.

The staff in question are, namely, Undersecretary and Duterte’s chief of staff, Zuleika Lopez, Assistant Secretary Lemuel Ortonio, Directors Rosalynne Sanchez, Sunshine Fajarda, and Edward Fajarda, Special Disbursing Officer Gina Acosta, and Chief Accountant Julieta Villadelrey.

The conditions set by the VP in exchange for her appearance have drawn the ire of the minority solons, with Mamamyang Liberal Rep. Leila de Lima warning that she will move to slash the OVP’s funding, leaving it only with maintenance and other operating expenses and personnel services budget.

“This actuation of the part of the Vice President is very appalling. Her repeated non-appearance before the body shows insult, grave insult and disrespect to this institution. If she cannot respect us—the Members of the House of Representatives—at least respect the House of Representatives as an Institution, at least respect the Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines,” De Lima stressed.

This wasn't the first time Duterte snubbed the House plenary deliberations on her budget. Last year, she also refused to defend her office’s funding for 2025, prompting the House to cut it from P2.026 billion to P733.198 million.

Pwersa ng Pilipinong Pandagat Rep. Harold Duterte, however, called his colleagues to approve the OVP’s budget without “theatrics and unnecessary grandstanding,” asserting that the House rules do not require the head of any agency to be physically present in plenary debates.