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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider 'Hindi niya ma-gets?': Makabayan says VP Sara's response to budget cut shows she can't grasp accountability

'Hindi niya ma-gets?': Makabayan says VP Sara's response to budget cut shows she can't grasp accountability

Published Oct 14, 2025 11:35 pm

At A Glance

  • For Makabayan congressmen, concepts like accountability and checks and balances in government are simply too foreign for Vice President Sara Duterte.
Vice President Sara Duterte (Facebook)
Vice President Sara Duterte (Facebook)


For Makabayan congressmen, concepts like accountability and checks and balances in government are simply too foreign for Vice President Sara Duterte.
This was their retort to Vice President Duterte's reaction to the House of Representatives decision to slash P156 million from the Office of the Vice President's (OVP) budget in the proposed 2026 General Appropriations Bill (GAB).
"She still does not understand what accountability for corruption means, what checks and balance mean, and why as the second highest official of the land, she is being held to the highest standards of accountability and transparency," the Makabayan said in a joint statement Tuesday, Oct. 14.
ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. Leila de Lima, Gabriela Party-list Rep. Sarah Elago, and Kabataan Party-list Rep. Renee Co comprise the militant faction in the current 20th Congress.
It was House Deputy Minority Leader Mamamayang Liberal (ML) Party-list Rep. Leila de Lima who made the motion to reduce the OVP budget by a significant margin next year during the period of individual ammendments to the GAB.
De Lima's rationale was centered on the Vice President's supposed refusal to participate in the House budget process, particularly in discussions on how her office spent public funds; and her repeated acts of "disrespect" to the institution.
The former senator likened the reduction to a "parent disciplining a brat". The Makabayan and solons from the majority bloc supported De Lima's motion, leading to its incorporation in the P6.793-trillion spending plan for 2026.
In reaction, Duterte blasted De Lima's metaphor and said that the lower chamber had no moral ascendancy over her office.
"Hindi naman parent ang House of Representatives for them to say na kailangan disiplinahin ang Vice President dahil sa totoo lang, ang tawag nga natin sa kanila mga buwaya. Ayun ang general perception for all the members of the House of Representatives. So wala silang moral ascendancy over the [OVP]."
(The House of Representatives isn’t a parent for them to say the Vice President needs to be disciplined, because honestly, we even call them crocodiles. that’s the general perception of all the members of the House of Representatives. So they have no moral ascendancy over the OVP.)
The other legislative chamber, the Senate, may still restore the OVP budget to its original level in the 2026 GAB.
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