THE House of Representatives last night approved on third and final reading Malacañang’s proposed P6.352-trillion national budget for 2025 after lawmakers were left with no choice but to terminate the plenary deliberations on the Office of the Vice President’s (OVP) P2.037 billion budget request because of Vice President Sara Duterte’s absence in the proceedings.
The House voted 285-3 with zero abstention.
The House of Representatives was forced to tackle the OVP’s proposed budget so it can finish and approve the Executive’s proposed P6.352 trillion budget for next year.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Tuesday night certified House Bill (HB) No. 10800, or the General Appropriations Bill, as urgent, which allowed the House to approve the GAB on second and on third reading on the same day.
“Pursuant to the provisions of Article VI, Section 26 (2) of the 1987 Constitution, I hereby certify to the necessity of the immediate enactment of House Bill No. 10800,” the President said in a letter to Speaker Martin Romualdez.
The 2025 budget, which is intended to support the administration in attaining economic and social transformation and guided by the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2023-2028, is equivalent to 22 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).
The new budget proposal reflects a 10.1 percent increase from this year’s P5.768 trillion budget in 2024.
Per sector, education remains the top priority with an allocation of P977.6 billion, followed by public Works with P900 billion, and health with P297.6 billion.
Next is interior and local government with P278.4 billion, and national defense, which was earmarked P256.1 billion “to uphold national security, modernize defense capabilities, and ensure the safety and sovereignty of the nation” in light of China’s illegal incursions in the West Philippine Sea.
Social welfare was allocated P230.1 billion, agriculture with P211.3 billion, and transportation with P180.9 billion.
The Judiciary is allocated P63.6 billion, while the Department of Justice got P40.6 billion.
The House Committee on Appropriations earlier slashed the OVP’s proposed P2.037 billion budget by a whopping 63.8 percent, approving only P733.198 million after Duterte refused to answer questions from lawmakers related to how her office spent its P2.3 billion allocation in 2023.
The plenary adopted the committee’s recommendation during the period of amendments last night after Romualdez appealed to colleagues not to slash the OVP’s budget even more, as proposed by some lawmakers who wanted to give the OVP a zero budget.
“May ilang miyembro ng Kongreso na nagmungkahi na bawasan pa ang badyet ng Office of the Vice President, at ang iba pa ay nagpanukala na gawing zero ang pondo ng tanggapan dahil sa kanyang hindi pagsipot (Some members of Congress proposed that we lower the OVP’s budget even more and others even wanted a zero budget for the office because of her non-appearance),” the Speaker said in a statement.
“Ngunit tinanggihan ko ang mga mungkahing ito. Naiintindihan ko ang mga pagkadismaya, pero naniniwala ako na mahalaga pa ring magkaroon ng sapat na badyet ang Office of the Vice President para magpatuloy sa paglilingkod sa ating mga kababayan (But I declined such proposals. I understand the disappointment, but I believe that it’s important for the OVP to have a sufficient budget to continue serving our people),” Romualdez added.
SARA’S ABSENCE
Because of the Vice President’s absence, Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong, the plenary sponsor of the OVP’s budget, said the House has found itself in a “very unique circumstance” since no one from the OVP was present to help him defend the budget proposal.
“Talo pa ang isang estudyanteng nagbulakbol (She’s worse than a truant),” Rep. Raoul Manuel (PL, ACT), a member of the militant Makabayan bloc, told the plenary when congressmen tackled the OVP’s budget on the floor for the final time since Monday, when they started waiting for Duterte to attend the floor deliberations.
Rep. Arlene Brosas (PL, Gabriela), also from the Makabayan bloc, said “it was unacceptable that we were boycotted.” “Pambabatos ito sa taongbayan (This is an insult to the people),” she said.
“Ina-abandona na ba niya ang kanyang duties bilang Bise Presidente? Duty ang pagsagot sa budget deliberations dahil pera ng taongbayan ang pinag-uusapan. Hindi ito choice na pwedeng i-forgo na lang (Is she abandoning her duties as Vice President? Answering questions during the deliberations is a duty because we’re talking about the people’s money. This isn’t a choice that you can just forgo),” she also said.
Duterte stopped attending the budget hearings and the subsequent plenary deliberations after she refused to answer questions hounding her office’s use of P73 million in confidential funds which was part of the OVP’s 2022 budget.
Lawmakers believe that the P73 million was disallowed by the Commission on Audit (COA) out of the P125 million confidential funds spent by the OVP in 2022 is just the beginning of a “broader pattern of seeming misuse or mismanagement of government funds.”
In a September 11 letter to Adiong, the Vice President reiterated her stand that she will no longer defend her office’s proposed budget for 2025, stressing that lawmakers can do whatever they want with it.
The OVP, in statement, has said the Vice President did not make lawmakers wait for her because she informed them that she has no intention to participate as early as September 11.
WEEKEND IN CALAGUAS
Rep. Ramon Rodrigo Gutierrez (PL, 1-Rider) refuted the Vice President’s claim that she didn’t let officials and members of the House wait for 17 hours during her office’s scheduled plenary budget deliberations last Monday.
“If we take note, the contents of the letter is a reiteration of the answer that they interposed even for the pre-budget deliberations,” he said. “In other words, she only repeated that she is leaving it to the House to decide on the fate of her budget. However, it does not say that she will not participate with our processes.”
Lawmakers also continued to pounce on the Vice President for “lying” when she denied that she was vacationing at a beach in Calaguas, Camarines Norte last Monday while the House was set to tackle her office’s proposed budget.
Rep. France Castro (PL, ACT), also from the Makabayan bloc, cited as evidence a PNP spot report confirming the weekend beach trip which lasted until Monday to belie the Vice President’s claim that it is “fake news.”
“The truth has a way of coming to light,” Castro stated, referring to the police report that documented Duterte’s presence on Calaguas Island from September 21 to 23. “It is alarming that the Vice President chooses to dismiss verified reports as fake news when there is clear documentation of her whereabouts.”
The OVP, in a statement on Monday night, said: “The Vice President was on the road today talking to the people about the current events in our country.”
According to the PNP report, Vice President Duterte, accompanied by her entourage, arrived in Vinzons, Camarines Norte, early on September 21 and traveled to Mahabang Buhangin Beach. Duterte reportedly stayed at the “I Love Calaguas” resort and engaged with local officials before departing the island on September 23.
“While public officials have the right to personal time, it is unacceptable to do so during important budget deliberations, especially when denying the trip outright,” she said.
Reps. Paolo Ortega V of La Union and Jefferson Khonghun of Zambales demanded an apology from the Vice President, assailing her dishonesty. “It is conduct unbecoming of a public official, especially one holding the second highest position in the land,” they said.
“The Vice President owes the Filipino people an explanation and an apology. This is not the kind of leadership we deserve — where the truth is hidden and lies are told to cover it up,” Ortega said,
For his part, Khonghun said: “This is conduct unbecoming of any public official, especially the Vice President of the Philippines. Honesty should be a non-negotiable trait for anyone who holds office.”
Administration lawmakers from the Young Guns bloc, particularly Rep. Raul Angelo Bongalon (PL, Ako Bicol), earlier said Duterte should just resign if she is no longer interested in performing her duties and responsibilities, which includes attending the plenary deliberations on her office’s proposed budget for 2025.
NOT RESIGNING
Reacting, the Vice President said she is not going anywhere.
“Hindi ako sasagot sa Young Guns dahil kailangan ko sumagot sa 32 million na bumoto sa akin. Hindi sa isa o dalawang tao. Hindi ako aalis dito dahil nilagay ako ng mga tao dito believing I will work for the country (I will not respond to the Young Guns because I answer to 32 million who voted for me and not to just one or two people. I am not stepping down because the people put me here believing I will work for the country),” she told a press conference.
The Vice President earlier said the OVP can work even with a zero budget from the national coffers and accused lawmakers of plotting to impeachment her to diminish her chances in the 2028 presidential national elections.
She said lawmakers are trying to make a case for impeachment and when they did not find any evidence, “they are trying to fish by asking questions inside (the House).”
“Sa tingin ko sa nangyayari wala silang kaso sa impeachment kaya sila hanap ng hanap sa kung ano gagamitin nila (I think what’s happening is they have no case for impeachment so they’re looking for a ground),” she said. “Gumawa sila ng isa pang track na resignation (They made another track, which is the call for resignation).”
‘PENCHANT FOR CONFI FUNDS’
Also yesterday, Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro said Duterte’s penchant for confidential funds originated during her tenure as Davao City mayor.
“I wish to manifest my observation that the irregularities which have been observed in the utilization of confidential fund in the (OVP) should be checked as well. With respect to the utilization of confidential fund of Davao City during those times, the mayor is no less than our Vice President,” Luistro told the hearing of the House Committee on Good Government on the OVP’s use of confidential funds,
The committee, chaired by Manila Rep. Joel Chua, is investigating allegations that the Vice President mismanaged OVP funds, following findings by the COA.
The hearing shed light on the justification for confidential funds in local government units (LGUs), as mandated by Section 16 of the Local Government Code, which assigns LGUs the responsibility of promoting peace and order.
However, Luistro pointed out that the OVP’s mandate does not include peace and order, surveillance or national security. “Nowhere in the law or the Constitution does it say that the OVP is responsible for promoting peace and order, conducting surveillance activities, or handling matters of national security,” she said.
In her interpellation, Luistro highlighted the disproportionate allocation of confidential funds to Davao City compared to other major cities, noting that in 2022, its confidential fund surged to P460 million.
This amount far exceeded those allocated to other highly urbanized cities such as Cebu (P7.38 million), Manila (P120 million), Makati (P240 million), and Quezon (P75 million).
“Nakakapagtaka lang po kung bakit nalampasan pa ng Davao ang City of Manila, ang Makati, ang Quezon City. (It’s baffling why Davao City surpassed the cities of Manila, Makati and Quezon). For Makati, Davao almost doubled the confidential fund. For City of Manila, it almost tripled the confidential fund. Ang Cebu City po was way left behind because it is only P7.38 million,” Luistro said.
She further detailed Davao City’s historical confidential fund allocation, which was P144 million in 2016, P294 million in 2017, P420 million in 2018, and P460 million annually from 2019 to 2022.
“I just wish to state for the record that while we acknowledge that the LGU is entitled to confidential fund, because under Section 16 of the Local Government Code, bahagi po ng mandato nila is the promotion of peace and order,” Luistro said.
She added: “I just wish to state for the record that during this time, 2018 to 2022, the Mayor of Davao City, I believe, is no less than the Vice President. And I wish to state for the record as well, that the confidential fund that we are discussing about the OVP, last quarter of 2022 and the first three quarters of 2023, the one in disposal, is no less than our Vice President as well.”
