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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider VP Duterte given 'last chance' to attend House budget plenary debates

VP Duterte given 'last chance' to attend House budget plenary debates

Published Oct 1, 2025 09:17 pm

At A Glance

  • The House of Representatives is giving one "last chance" for Vice President Sara Duterte to personally appear in the chamber for the plenary debates on the proposed P6.793-trillion national budget for 2026.
Vice President Sara Duterte (PPAB)
Vice President Sara Duterte (PPAB)


The House of Representatives is giving one "last chance" for Vice President Sara Duterte to personally appear in the chamber for the plenary debates on the proposed P6.793-trillion national budget for 2026.
This last chance falls on Thursday, Oct. 2, after which the plenary deliberations on the 2026 outlay would be concluded.
Upon a parliamentary inquiry by Minority Leader 4Ps Party-list Rep. Marcelino "Nonoy" Libanan on Wednesday night, Oct. 1, it was learned that plenary deliberations on the OVP budget had been pending for two days.
The hold-up? Vice President Duterte wasn't around.
"We have been informed that the Vice President is not present, but sent the following officials of the [OVP], namely Assistant Secretary Lemuel G. Ortonio, the officer-in-charge/ chief of staff; Atty. Rosalyn L. Sanchez, director for admin and financial services; and Mr. Norman Baloro, director for operations," Deputy Majority Leader Oriental Mindoro 1st district Rep. Arnan Panaligan told Libanan.
"Is it not the requirement of this House...for the heads of agencies to be personally present as what happened during our previous deliberations? And in this case, we need the presence of the Vice President," replied Libanan, who drew a concurrence from Panaligan.
The minority leader asked: "May we inquire on how to we proceed on the deliberations on the proposed budget of the [Office of the] Vice President, when the Vice President is not around?"
"For the record," Panaligan said, "Today (Wednesday) is the second time that the proposed budget of the OVP was put [on] our agenda. Yesterday, the proposed budget of the OVP was even number one [on] the agenda. But only the same officials mentioned earlier were present."
"The absence of the head of office yesterday was the reason why we reset the agenda for today. Given the same situation today, we are constrained to put this office again in the agenda tomorrow, Oct. 2, 2025," said the deputy majority leader.
"This is the last chance, being the last day that we will put the [OVP] on the agenda to defend the budget of her office," noted Panaligan.
"That's for tomorrow, the last day of the plenary deliberations for the propsoed 2026 budget or General Appropriations Bill (GAB)," he underscored.
While Vice President Duterte isn't required to personally answer questions about the OVP budhet, it is traditional for the head of agency or at the very least a high-ranking ofciial to attend the budget debates.
An appropropriations committee vice chairperson acting as budget sponsor is tasked to answer the solons' questions in plenary.
Vice President Duterte personally appeared during the committee-level hearing on the OVP's 2026 allocation.
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