September 25, 2024 | 7:14pm
MANILA, Philippines — Despite the absence of an authorized representative from the Office of the Vice President (OVP), the House of Representatives proceeded with the plenary deliberations on the agency’s proposed 2025 budget on Wednesday, September 25.
House lawmakers finally terminated the budget proceeding for the OVP’s budget on Wednesday, submitting to the plenary the P733 million budget proposed by the appropriations committee for the agency.
The P733 million proposed budget is a result of a 63.8% cut to the P2.026 billion requested funds of the OVP.
The appropriations committee recommended on September 11 the realignment of P1.293 billion slashed from the agency’s budget to the Department of Health and Department of Social Welfare and Development.
RELATED: House panel moves to slash more than half of OVP budget
Consistent absence. While Vice President Sara Duterte submitted a letter stating she would leave the budget deliberations to the plenary on Monday, lawmakers on Tuesday said they would extend “maximum leniency,” as the letter did not explicitly mention her or her staff’s inability to attend.
As a result, the House was forced to postpone budget deliberations for the agency until the last day of plenary debates for the 2025 General Appropriations Bills (GAB) after the OVP was absent for three days.
RELATED: VP Sara’s absence stalls OVP budget debate
Disappointed lawmakers. During the plenary, lawmakers largely expressed disappointment over the OVP’s apparent lack of intention to defend or explain her office’s spending and programs.
Even at the good governance committee’s inquiry into the alleged misuse of public funds by Duterte in the OVP and Department of Education, she remained absent.
“Answering questions during budget deliberations is a duty because the people’s money is being discussed. It is not a choice that can simply be ignored, nor should traditions be used as an excuse to avoid accountability for how public funds are spent, regardless of the agency involved,” Rep. Arlene Brosas (Gabriela Women’s Party) said in Filipino.
Alleged misuse of funds. Lawmakers once again engaged in discussions over the alleged misuse of public funds, particularly concerning the OVP’s confidential funds.
State auditors have reported two separate issues with the OVP’s confidential funds. One was the P125 million spent for “surveillance purposes” in 11 days in December 2022, and another was the P500 million fully-disbursed confidential funds in seven months of 2023.
The Commission on Audit flagged P237 million of the P500 million confidential and intelligence funds in 2023, and disallowed or deemed as inappropriate spending P73 million of the P125 million confidential funds in 2022.
RELATED: COA disallows nearly 60% of VP Sara’s confidential expenditures in 2022
Proposal to cut the budget further. Rep. France Castro (ACT Teachers Party) said she will recommend a 70% cut to the OVP’s proposed P2.026 billion budget, suggesting P529.593 million instead of P733 million.
“I will slightly reduce the capital outlay, as well as the maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE) because she has failed in her conduct and failed to fulfill her promise to the public to carry out her duties as vice president,” Castro said in Filipino.
Budget sponsor Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong (Lanao del Sur, 1st District) said Castro could propose these amendments at the appropriate time. The plenary will then deliberate and either accept or reject the proposed changes.
The House of Representatives plans to approve the P6.352-trillion national budget under the 2025 GAB on Wednesday, on the second and third reading.
This came after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. certified the bill as urgent on Tuesday.
When the president certifies a bill as urgent, lawmakers are permitted to bypass the constitutional requirement of holding the second and third readings on separate days, allowing the House to approve the bill on both readings on the same day.
