
Vice President Sara Duterte’s boycott of the House of Representatives’ second hearing on the Office of the Vice President’s (OVP) proposed P2 billion budget for 2025, was a “great insult” to the House and its mandate, a lawmaker said.
Rep. Bienvenido “Benny” Abante Jr. of Manila expressed dismay over Duterte’s absence, calling it disrespectful to the institution vested with the “power of the purse.”
“That’s disrespect to the institution,” the lawmaker said in an interview on Facts First with Christian Esguerra. “To me, that is a great insult to the institution na mayroong mandato na galing sa konstitusyon na aming busisiin ang budget ng anumang ahensiya ng gobyerno.”
FACTS FIRST WITH CHRISTIAN ESGUERRA | Watch our interview with Manila Rep. Benny Abante, who said that VP Sara Duterte’s refusal to show up at the budget hearing was an insult to Congress.
“We are not a monarchy here nor are we a socialist country. We are not under the vice president. We are co-equal branches of government,” he added.
The Committee on Appropriations’ deliberations, scheduled for 9 a.m. on Sept. 10, were delayed by an hour after Duterte sent a letter stating she was deferring the budget decision “entirely to the discretion and judgment” of the panel.
The Sept. 10 hearing was the second session convened by the panel to tackle the OVP’s proposed P2.037-billion budget for 2025. In the first hearing on Aug. 27, Duterte faced intense scrutiny, especially regarding the P125 million in confidential funds her office used in just 11 days in 2022.
“Okay lang kung hindi siya dumalo (Duterte). She was actually pissed off noong unang hearing. She could send her representative who knows about the budget of the OVP,” Abante said.
Despite Duterte’s absence, tensions ran high during the session, particularly when Sagip party-list Rep. Rodante Marcoleta moved to terminate the deliberations, arguing that the vice president should be granted “parliamentary courtesy.”
While this tradition is often used to fast-track the president’s and vice president’s budget allocations, Abante argued that it was inappropriate in this case.
“It is also a cherished tradition that when we deliberate on the budget of any agency in government, that the head of agency must be present,” he said. “‘Yon talaga ‘yong time-honored tradition, more than ‘yong time-honored tradition na hindi na kinakailangang busisiin pa ‘yong budget ng vice president.”
Abante, formerly a supporter of the Dutertes, has been vocal in questioning the OVP’s budget, marking a 180-degree turn from his previous stance. He supported Rodrigo Duterte in the 2016 presidential elections and Sara Duterte for vice president in 2022.
In an earlier interview with Facts First on Aug. 28, Abante expressed regret over supporting Sara: “Napakalaki ng regret ko by supporting her. Ibig sabihin, ngayon, nakikita ko na that sa kaniya, ginagawa niyang personal ang mga bagay na ito when it is the country at stake and the budget of the people.”
‘OVP can work sans budget’
In response to suggestions that the OVP’s budget could be defunded or significantly reduced, Duterte said her office could function even without a budget allocation.
“Narinig din namin na mayroong defunding. I-defund daw ang [OVP] budget. Narinig din namin na posibleng piso lang ang ibigay na budget sa [OVP],” she said in a video interview released by her office.
“Handa kami. Handa ako sa [OVP] na magtrabaho kahit walang budget. Maliit lang ‘yong opisina namin. Maliit lang ‘yong operations namin kaya kayang-kaya namin na magtrabaho kahit walang budget.”
On Sept. 12, Rep. Stella Quimbo of Marikina revealed that the House appropriations committee had agreed to reduce the OVP’s budget to P733 million — P1.29 billion less than the proposed P2.037 billion.
“It is really the absence of information. To that extent, her absence did not shed light on many issues, to me, ‘yon sa aking palagay ang naka-affect. It’s really the information na kailangan natin i-evaluate,” Quimbo said.
The committee recommended reallocating part of the OVP’s budget to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the Department of Health, citing redundancies in the OVP’s proposal.
“Kung ako masusunod, bibigyan ko ng zero budget ‘yan sa kaniyang social servces kasi nandyan naman ang DSWD e,” Abante said. “Puwede naman siyang humingi e…she is the vice president, she can do that.”
The House and the Senate aim to finalize and submit the national budget to President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. by Dec. 1. Logan Kal-El M. Zapanta