The House of Representatives moved to rationalize the budget of the Office of the Vice President — retaining the P733 million budget recommendation from the Committee on Appropriations from the original P2.1 billion proposal.
This came amid calls from some lawmakers to further reduce the OVP budget, with some pushing to slash it to zero following Vice President Sara Duterte’s repeated absences from the budget deliberations.
“As Speaker, I understand the sentiments of some of my colleagues in Congress regarding Vice President Sara Duterte not attending the plenary deliberations for her office’s budget. She was invited three times, but she did not show up,” Speaker Martin Romualdez said.
Romualdez, however, emphasized the importance of keeping the OVP funded to ensure that services provided by the office continue uninterrupted and to safeguard the jobs of its employees.
“There are some members of Congress who have proposed to further reduce the budget of the Office of the Vice President, and others have proposed to reduce the office’s funds to zero because of her non-appearance. But I rejected these suggestions. I understand the frustrations, but I believe that it is still important for the Office of the Vice President to have a sufficient budget to continue serving our countrymen,” he said.
He said this was the reason why he appealed to leaders of all political parties in the House of Representatives late Wednesday to convince other House members to just adopt the recommendation of the Committee on Appropriations.
“Therefore, in accordance with our consultation with political party leaders from the Nacionalista Party (NP), Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC), National Unity Party (NUP), Party-list Coalition Foundation, Inc., and others, we followed the recommendation of the Committee on Appropriations after their thorough review,” he said.
“It is still important for the Office of the Vice President to have a sufficient budget to continue serving our countrymen,” he added.
The House appropriations committee previously approved the P733-million allocation, which closely mirrors the budget allocated to former Vice President Leni Robredo. The budget includes P30 million to account for inflation.
However, a portion of the budget initially intended for the OVP’s satellite offices and certain social services will be redirected to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the Department of Health (DOH).
“Ultimately, continuous service is important for the well-being of our countrymen, and offices like OVP need adequate funds to do this. Although we expect accountability and participation, it is also important to ensure that public service continues for the good of all,” Romualdez said.
Duterte on Wednesday insisted the House of Representatives cannot compel people to participate in the legislative process, saying that such right to refuse is protected by the Constitution.
“Inquiries should not be adversarial nor prosecutorial and should recognize the right of persons to refuse to participate in the crafting of laws,” Duterte said.
“In fact, the invitation of the Committee itself lacks any clear legislative objective or contemplated legislation that is expected as an outcome of the deliberations,” she added in a letter addressed to Rep. Joel Chua, chairperson of the Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability.
According to Vice President, the use of terms such as “inquiry” and “investigation,” as well as “persons” and “witnesses,” was improperly used interchangeably in the House rules.
She added the issue regarding the utilization of the OVP’s previous budget, specifically its 2022 confidential fund, is currently under review by the Supreme Court and therefore “should not be discussed before the House of Representatives,” citing the sub judice rule.
Five officials from the OVP also skipped Wednesday’s congressional inquiry, prompting Chua’s committee to issue a show-cause order demanding their explanation.
The officials named in the order include Undersecretary Zuleika Lopez (chief of staff), Assistant Secretary Lemuel Ortonio (assistant chief of staff), Rosalynne Sanchez (director of Administrative and Financial Services), special disbursing officer Gina Acosta, and chief accountant Julieta Villadelrey.
Should these OVP officials fail to provide a satisfactory explanation, or if the committee deems their response insufficient, they may face a contempt order.
Chua, for his part, said the amounts being scrutinized in the congressional probe of the alleged misuse of OVP funds already surpassed the country’s threshold in plunder laws.
“I must stress at this point that the sheer vastness of these potentially misused funds sets this matter apart from other instances of irregularity and disallowance – these amounts easily surpass the threshold for the crime of plunder under our laws,” Chua said.
“It is incumbent upon us, who are duty bound to ensure that our legislation and regulations are effective enough to protect the money of the people, to investigate and get to the bottom of these glaring irregularities,” he added.
The panel is particularly focused on the P125 million confidential fund allocated to the OVP that was spent in just 11 days in 2022.
He said the documents submitted submitted by the OVP lacked detailed breakdowns and appeared to have been hastily prepared.
The Commission on Audit disallowed P73 million of the P125 million confidential funds allocated for the OVP in 2022.
Chua said the remaining P500 million set for 2023 is also being reviewed, with only P51 million having been cleared by COA so far.
“This investigation is not prompted by any motive other than a desire to make the numbers make sense,” he said.
“What we have seen regarding the usage by the OVP of its confidential funds certainly gives this committee – and the country – cause to want to find out the facts behind this, ultimately to fulfill this august body’s mandate of crafting effective laws and legislation to protect our people’s hard-earned money,” he added.
The Chua panel also expanded its probe to cover the alleged failure of the Department of Education (DepEd), under Duterte’s leadership, to deliver ICT equipment to teachers and students, as well as concerns over the proper utilization of funds.
The investigation focused on concerns over DepEd’s failure to utilize nearly P9 billion of its P11.36 billion budget for ICT equipment in 2023, resulting in a low utilization rate of 19.22 percent.
Meanwhile, Duterte said she is aware of who is behind the alleged impeachment moves against her.
“Since last year, they already had their grounds for impeachment. They are just waiting to have all the pieces they need to back the grounds they have identified,” she said.
“One track is impeachment. You have (ACT party-list Rep. France) Castro. You have (former Senator Antonio IV) Trillanes.”
“Who is behind them? I know, but I cannot divulge yet. At the proper time, I will disclose everything. Someone will mention the name soon in the hearing, and then I will identify that person. There is only handler of Risa Hontiveros, Sonny Trillanes, and France Castro,” the Vice President added.
Editor’s Note: This is an updated article. Originally posted with the headline “‘Unbowed’ Sara skips House scrutiny on OVP budget.”
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