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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider No fireworks here: House panel concludes OVP budget hearing in 1 hour

No fireworks here: House panel concludes OVP budget hearing in 1 hour

Published Sep 16, 2025 01:24 pm

At A Glance

  • The budget hearing of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) before the House Committee on Appropriations Tuesday, Sept. 16 was brimming with cordiality and devoid of fireworks.
Vice President Sara Duterte (PPAB)
Vice President Sara Duterte (PPAB)


The budget hearing of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) before the House Committee on Appropriations Tuesday, Sept. 16 was brimming with cordiality and devoid of fireworks.
Vice President Sara Duterte spent just one hour speaking to the panel before the budget hearing on the OVP's proposed P902.895 million outlay for 2026 was terminated or concluded.
The situation was a far cry from the OVP budget hearing last year, when decorum took a backseat as an antagonistic Vice President Duterte responded to questions pertaining to her use of confidential and intelligence funds.
These same issues were used as basis for the impeachment complaint that was lodged by the same legislative chamber before the Senate just last February.
But the Vice President who attended the proceedings Tuesday was calm and composed; more importantly, she showed a willingness to engage in discussions by waiving the parliamentary courtesy to forego the questions.
Appropriations vice chairman and OVP budget sponsor, Palawan 2nd district Rep. Jose "Pepito" Alvarez was the one who directed most of the traffic during the hearing, although panel chairperson, Nueva Ecija 1st district Rep. Mikaela Angela "Mika" Suansing.
"We are grateful that present here today to present the proposed budget is no less than the Vice President herself," Suansing said.
"I do not have an opening remark," Vice President Duterte said after she was asked to begin the OVP's presentation at around 9:40 a.m. The agency went straight to showing an audio-visual presentation and PowerPoint presentation.
Nothing contentious 
Senior Deputy Minority Leader Caloocan City 2nd district Rep. Edgar Erice said afterward: "Madam chair, we in the minority believe that there are no contentious issues in the budget of the [OVP], especially in the 2025-2026 budget of the said agency."
"Much that we would like to honor the tradition [on parliamentary courtesy] that we extend to the [OVP], there are two members of the minority who would like to ask questions," Erice said, referring to fellow minority solons ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio and Kabataan Party-list Rep. Renee Co.
No member of the majority bloc interpellated or asked questions to the Vice President.
As expected, Tinio and Co--both Makabayan bloc solons--quizzed Vice President Duterte on her foreign trips and on the issue of confidential funds. There was no tension or raising of voices during the exchanges--very much unlike last year.
The elderly Alvarez also strictly enforced the five-minute rule per interpellator, so as not to ruin the flow of the proceedings.
By 10:40 a.m., the Vice President had answered the last question from Makabayan. Erice then moved to terminate the budget hearing.
The appropriations panel carried this after hearing no objections from the members, and the second highest official of the land went her way.
Kid glove treatment?
Bantay Budget convenor and Makabayan president Liza Maza strongly criticized members of House of Representatives for their failure to hold Vice President Duterte accountable in the budget hearing.
She claimed that the congressmen treated the Vice President "with kid gloves" instead of demanding answers on questionable expenditures.
"Nakakahiya ang karamihan ng mga miyembro ng Kamara na parang mga tuta na hindi nagtanong sa mga mahalagang isyu. Kung hindi dahil sa Makabayan bloc nina Rep. Tinio at Rep. Co walang magtatatanong kay VP Duterte tungkol sa nawalang P125 million confidential funds," Maza said.
(Most members of the House are shameful, acting like lapdogs who didn’t ask about important issues. If not for the Makabayan bloc led by Rep. Tinio and Rep. Co, no one would have questioned VP Duterte about the missing ₱125 million in confidential funds.)
"We assail both members of the majority and minority who were silent during the proceedings and did not raise the issues that were flagged in past committee hearings...VP Duterte even used the archived impeachment case against her to evade answering legitimate questions," she noted.
Maza criticized the numerous interruptions from the Vice President's supposed allies during the hearing, including SAGIP Party-list Rep. Paolo Marcoleta, Davao City 3rd district Rep. Isidro Ungab, and even budget sponsor Alvarez. She said Alvarez "answered for the Vice President instead of allowing her to respond directly".
The veteran activist and budget watchdog emphasized that the House's role is to scrutinize government spending, not to protect officials from legitimate questioning.
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