MANILA – Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio and all the officials from her office opted not to show up in the continuation of the House of Representatives’ deliberations of the Office of the Vice President’s (OVP) 2025 proposed budget on Tuesday.
In a letter addressed to House of Representatives Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, Duterte-Carpio said her office had submitted the necessary documents regarding its budget request.
“The OVP has submitted all necessary documentation to the House of Representatives – Committee on Appropriations, including a detailed presentation on the proposed budget for fiscal year 2025,” the OVP said in a statement.
“In view of the foregoing, the OVP defers entirely to the discretion and judgment of the Committee regarding its budget proposal for 2025,” the statement added.
The House Appropriations has previously deferred OVP’s proposed budget for 2025 after Duterte-Carpio repeatedly refused to answer interpellation questions from lawmakers.
Even with the absence of Duterte-Carpio, tempers flared among lawmakers, with Sagip party-list’s Cong. Rodante Marcoleta motioning to terminate the budget briefing as a parliamentary “courtesy” to OVP.
House Appropriations Committee chair Stella Quimbo then called for a division of the House, resulting in 45 members voting against Marcoleta’s motion and only three supporting the move to end budget deliberations.
Angered with the outcome of the voting, Marcoleta repeatedly made his objection to the continuation of the budget briefing, stating the long-standing tradition of deferring the deliberation on budgets of the OVP and Office of the President.
“Wala na po ba yung respeto sa tradisyon na iyon — is this committee authorized to disregard tradition?” Marcoleta said. “Goodbye to parliamentary courtesy at future hearings?”
“You may not like the person, you may not like her presence here, but you have to respect the Office of the Vice President,” he added.
Duterte-Carpio’s office is proposing a P2.037-billion budget plan for 2025./PN
