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DEFERRED

August 28, 2024 Jester P. Manalastas 121 views

IN a rare move, the House Committee on Appropriations has deferred the deliberations of the proposed budget of the Office of the Vice President after Vice President Sara Duterte refused to defend the budget and answer the questions of the members of the panel.

Despite disappointment and dismay, members of the committee kept on questioning Duterte on the reported P125 million confidential funds she allegedly requested last 2022 and spent in just 11 days.

After five hours of deliberations, Zambales Rep. Jeff Khonghun moved to defer the budget hearing as he expressed frustrations of Duterte’s repeated and scripted response to every question.

The panel approved the motion without objections and set another deliberations on September 10.

Previously, the House of Representatives quickly approved the budget of the OVP out of courtesy to the sitting Vice President.

But this time, lawmakers did not allow Duterte to skip the question- and-answer part.

During the hearing, it was revealed that the Commission on Audit (COA) has issued a Notice of Disallowance on the P73 million worth of confidential funds spent in 2022.

According to the COA Notice of Disallowance, at least P69 million of the P73 million disallowed involved the following: P10 million for reward payment; P34.857 million for payment of reward (various goods); and P24.93 million for payment of reward (medicines).

Likewise, COA said the P3.5 million of the disallowed P73 million “were used for payment for tables, chairs, desktop computers and printers without specifying that they were intended for the confidential operations/activities undertaken by the OVP, non-compliant with the requirement of Item 4.8.4 of the Joint Circular governing use of confidential fund.”

Duterte repeatedly dodged questions on the OVP’s proposed P2 billion budget for 2025, COA findings on confidential funds, and the use of confidential funds.

Deputy Majority Leader Tingog Party-list Rep. Jude Acidre told Duterte that it is the mandate of the OVP to explain its budget.

Acidre asked the second highest official in the Philippines: “Given the esteemed position of the Office of the Vice President (OVP), could the honorable Vice President kindly enlighten this committee on how the proposed budget reflects the core mandate of the Office of the Vice President.”

Despite the Committee on Appropriations lending open ears, Duterte repeatedly said she will “forego the opportunity to defend the Office of the Vice President’s 2025 [budget] in the question and answer format. I will leave it to the House of Representatives to decide on the proposal as presented. You can find all the answers in the audio visual presentation, in our submission of the documents to the Secretariat, in the Powerpoint presentation, and in the opening statement.”

She emphasized that it is up to the lawmakers in the House to decide on her office’s budget next year.

The approved P2.03 billion is a notch higher than the OVP’s 2024 budget of P1.87 billion.