MANILA — Vice President Sara Duterte has accused the House of Representatives of conducting “scripted” budget hearings, citing this as one of the reasons she chose not to answer questions during the recent budget deliberations.
In an interview taped on September 4 and released Wednesday, Duterte claimed several members of the House were prepared to counter any responses her office would provide during the hearing last week.
“Alam na nila kung anong gagawin nila bago pa kami pumunta sa plenary ng House… Mayroon na silang nakahandang PowerPoint presentation, mayroon na silang nakahandang audiovisual presentation, mayroon na silang nakahanda na script na binabasa,” Duterte said.
(They already knew what they would do even before we went to the House plenary. They had a PowerPoint presentation, an audiovisual presentation, and a script ready.)
Duterte added that the budget discussions were unrelated to the Office of the Vice President’s 2025 budget proposal, but rather focused on confidential funds that are already subject to three cases in the Supreme Court.
She further alleged that since last year, the House leadership and the Makabayan bloc had planned to remove the OVP’s confidential funds even before the hearings began.
“Kung makita ninyo doon sa budget hearing ng Office of the Vice President ay dinefend namin nang maayos kung paano gagamitin ang confidential funds,” she said.
(If you saw the budget hearing, we properly defended how the confidential funds would be used.)
Duterte pointed out that after her defense, House Appropriations chair Zaldy Co released a statement within two hours, declaring that party leaders had unanimously decided to remove the OVP’s confidential funds.
She claimed a congressman had told her that Co had approached him, saying, “Tatanggalin namin ang confidential funds ni Inday Sara.”
Last year, after the Commission on Audit (COA) flagged the OVP’s confidential funds, the House removed them. Despite this, Duterte maintained that her office had defended their proper use of the funds during the plenary debates.
“Para hindi halata na inaatake nila ako, ay tinanggalan din nila ‘yung mga iba pang mga departments ng kanilang confidential funds,” Duterte noted.
(To make it less obvious that they were targeting me, they also removed confidential funds from other departments.)
By late 2023, Duterte said she had stopped using the confidential funds allocated to the OVP and the Department of Education, which she also headed at the time, explaining that any proper use of the funds would still be twisted.
“Sabi ko sa kanila, ‘Kahit gaanong tamang gamit natin diyan, gagawan nila ng mali ‘yan,'” she added.
(Whatever correct use we make of those funds, they will twist it and attack us using the confidential funds.)
However, House Appropriations chairperson Elizaldy Co and Majority Leader Manuel Jose “Mannix” Dalipe denied Duterte’s accusations.
“Hindi po totoo ‘yun. Siya po ang scripted. Siya po ang budol,” Co responded.
(That’s not true. She’s the one who’s scripted. She’s the scam.)
Dalipe added that committee members have every right to scrutinize the budget, dismissing the idea of a script.
“The members of the committee on appropriations have their right to scrutinize the budget and I don’t see any script in that,” Dalipe said. “Maski mga ibang department o agency, nagtatanong talaga ang mga members. So walang script diyan.”
(House members always ask questions, whether it’s the OVP or any other department. So there’s no script.)
TINGOG Party List Representative Jude Acidre also expressed disappointment at Duterte’s remarks, suggesting they were an attempt to divert attention from the real issues.
The House Appropriations Committee is set to decide on whether another budget hearing for the OVP will take place, with no decision yet on whether the proposed budget will be cut.