VICE President Sara Duterte said unnamed lawmakers had demanded a kickback from the P5 billion budget that she sought to build classrooms when she was still secretary of the Department of Education.
“I was surprised that some lawmakers were asking, ‘What’s our cut in this?'” Duterte said in Filipino in a recorded interview released by the Office of the Vice President Tuesday. It was the second interview released by her office in so many days.
“I said that it’s not possible. If we do this, the DepEd will not do its job of constructing classrooms to address the classroom backlog. So I told the legislator, “Tell [Speaker] Martin Romualdez that he should not slash the classroom construction fund of P5 billion,” Duterte said.
Vice President Sara Duterte. PHOTOS BY MIKE ALQUINTO
She said this led to an increase in the budget for classroom construction from P5 billion in the proposed 2024 national expenditure program to P15 billion.
“The P10 billion that was not controlled by the DepEd; it was controlled by [House Appropriations
Committee chief and Ako Bicol Partylist Rep. Elizaldy] Co and Romualdez. I don’t need a corroborative witness, as you will see it on paper. The people will see in the NEP it is P5 billion, but in the approved budget, its P15 billion,” Duterte said.
Duterte said this mechanism firmed up her conviction not to subject the Office of the Vice President (OVP) to a budget hearing as she believed that Co and Romualdez were the only ones who controlled the budget. She said this was the main reason for leaving the Department of Education.
“Why should we subject ourselves to a question and answer, to attack me while the only ones who will be followed on the budget will be two persons?” Duterte said.
During the second deliberation of the OVP’s budget at the House of Representatives, Co slammed Duterte for her remarks, calling it a “diversionary tactic” from the issues that were raised against her, specifically on the use of P125-million confidential funds used over 11 days, which he said was far worse than the length convicted plunderer Janet Lim-Napoles spent her money.
“It was CoA and not Congress who said that the use of P73 million out of the P125-million confidential funds in 11 days was wrong. It was even worse than the Napoles fund that was used in 60 days. This one was used in 11 days, and now we are going to give her P2 million?” Co said in Filipino.
Unlike in the previous hearing, Duterte and the entire Office of the Vice President snubbed the second hearing, opting instead to send a letter addressed to Co and Romualdez.
“The OVP has submitted all necessary documentation to the House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations, including a detailed presentation on the proposed budget for fiscal year 2025,” the OVP said.
The OVP added that it “defers entirely to the discretion and judgment of the committee regarding its budget proposal for 2025.”
This, however, did not stop legislators from asking the Commission on Audit and the Department of Budget and Management questions over the implementation of the OVP’s satellite and extension offices, which they said was an “additional expense” to the public.
Because of her non-appearance at the hearing, Ako Bicol Partylist Rep. Raul Angelo Bongalon moved to defer the termination of the OVP’s budget subject to revisions in its budget, such as removing certain allocations and placing several items for funding on hold.
OVP Budget Sponsor and Lanao del Sur 1st District Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong said the non-attendance of Duterte was “frustrating” but said that he was still committed to defending the budget in the plenary despite little information regarding its programs.
“That is our job as sponsor. You really have to equip yourself with the information and data; that is the only ammunition that we have,” Adiong said.
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