Vice President Sara Duterte (Facebook)

The House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability--commonly referred to as the "Blue Ribbon Committee" of the lower chamber--will carry out an inquiry on the budget spending of the Office of the Vice President (OVP). 

The high-profile investigation is scheduled on Wednesday, Sept. 18. It will be carried out at the People’s Center in Batasang Pambansa Complex, the same site as the quad-committee (quad-comm) hearings. 

That the panel is pushing for the hearing on OVP amid the ongoing plenary debates on House Bill (HB) No.10800 or the proposed P6.352-trillion national budget for 2025 speaks to its importance for the congressmen. 

The OVP's perceived non-cooperation with the House Committee on Appropriations during the just-concluded committee deliberations on the 2025 spending plan and the resulting animosity between Vice President Sara Duterte and the solons serves as the backdrop of the upcoming probe. 

The newly reorganized good government panel under its new chairman Manila 3rd district Rep. Joel Chua will conduct the investigation. 

The agenda of the probe Wednesday reads, "Initial deliberation and preliminary determination of Privilege Speech No. 379 delivered on the floor on September 3, 2024 – On 'Asserting the Power of the Purse' of Congress." 

In the scathing speech delivered by Manila 2nd district Rep. Rolando Valeriano, Vice President Duterte was called out for her demeanor during the Aug. 27 budget hearings of the appropriations panel. 

"inilantad ng Vice President ang kanyang hindi kagandahang asal at kawalan ng respeto sa ating Saligang Batas at demokratikong republika...Dito sa Kamara, hindi natin tinatapatan ng kabatusan ang kabastusan. Maling asal kasi yan,” he said. 

(The Vice President displayed her bad attitude and lack of respect for our Constitution an democratic republic...Here in Congress, we didn't respond to rudeness with rudeness. That's the wrong attitude.) 

"Pondo ng bayan iyan. Kaya nga mayroong budget hearings ay para malaman ng ‘madlang pipol’ kung paano ginagastos ng mga opisina ng gobyerno ang pondo ng bayan na ipinagkatiwala sa kanila,” Valeriano said. 

(Those are public funds. The reason why we have budget hearings is to inform the masses on how government office use the public funds that have been instructed to them.) 

Maling akala ni VP na siya'y na hindi maaaring salungatin ng kahit sino. Iyan ang nasaksihan natin sa budget hearing ng [OVP ]...Maling akala rin ni VP na wala tayong karapatan magtanong ng anumang bagay tungkol sa budget ng kanyang opisina," he further said in his speech. 


(It's wrong for VP to think that she cannot be disputed by anyone. That's what we witnessed during the OVP budget hearing...It's also wrong for VP to think that we don't have any right to ask anything about her office's budget.) 

Like a broken record, Vice President Duterte either told the congressmen to refer to her PowerPoint presentation, or that she "forego[es] the defense of OVP budget" during the hearing. 
 

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"Ganyan ba ang asal ng ating Bise Presidente at nag-aambisyong maging presidente? We deserve better," added Valeriano. 

(Is that the demeanor of our Vice President who has an ambition to become president? We deserve better.) 

In the follow-up hearing of the appropriations panel last Sept. 10, nobody from the OVP bothered to attend the proceedings in what can be interpreted as an affront to the House. 

Government government panel chairman Chua had also criticized Vice President Duterte for her evasiveness on questions about her office's budget, including the usage of confidential funds. 

“Kasi pagka umiiwas ka, hindi mo naman sinasagot, hindi mo naman pinapaliwanag nang maayos, magkakaroon ng duda. Hindi lang kami pati ‘yung taongbayan,” Chua said. 

(Because if you avoid it, you don't answer, you don't explain properly, there will be doubt. It’s not just from us, but from our countrymen as well.)