OVP, House sponsor to talk after budget deferment

The Office of the Vice President (OVP) said Wednesday that they will be having a meeting with the office of Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Adiong, the designated sponsor of the OVP's proposed 2025 budget in the House of Representatives plenary, following the deferment of its budget deliberations by a House panel.

OVP spokesperson Atty. Michael Poa, however, said there was no definite date yet as to when the OVP and Adiong's office will have a talk.

"The OVP will be contacting Cong Adiong's Office as agreed during a brief conversation between Cong Adiong and the VP right after the budget hearing yesterday," Poa told reporters.

"Kung kailan ang magiging pag-uusap between the OVP and Cong Adiong's office wala pa po tayong maisasagot sa ngayon," he added.

(We don't have an answer yet when the OVP and Adiong's office will have a conversation.)

Speaking at the Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum, Senate President Francis "Chiz" Escudero said it seemed Duterte is not used to being questioned and opposed.

"My take on it dahil pinanood ko kahapon. Tila hindi sang-ayon at sanay si Vice President Duterte na tinatanong siya at hindi siya sinasang-ayunan. Sa kabila naman, pinakita ng Kamara ‘yong haba din naman ng kanilang pasensya," Escudero said.

(In my opinion, since I watched it yesterday, it seemed like Vice President Duterte disagree and not accustomed to being questioned, and not being agreed with. On the other hand, the House of Representatives showed that they had a great deal of patience.)

"Maliwanag sa napanood ko kahapon na tila hindi isang kaibigan si Vice President Sara sa ilang miyembro ng Kamara at sa Kongreso kahapon. Sana magbago ‘yon sa susunod na pagdinig," the Senate president added, using a wordplay from Duterte-authored book entitled "Isang Kaibigan" which drew flak because of its P10 billion proposed budget for distribution.?

(It was clear to me from what I saw yesterday that Vice President Sara doesn't seem to be on good terms with some members of the House and Congress. I hope that changes in the next hearing.)

In an interview on Unang Balita, Senator Risa Hontiveros slammed Duterte's "sense of entitlement" which she said is not appropriate coming from the second-highest official in the country.

"Ayan, hindi pa rin nagbabago ng ugali. 'Yung sense of entitlement ibang klase rin talaga na nakaka-shock mula sa pangalawang pinakamataas na opisyal ng gobyerno," Hontiveros said.

(She still hasn't changed her attitude. Her sense of entitlement is truly shocking, especially coming from the second highest-ranking government official.)

"Hindi pupwedeng pumasa 'yung ganyan dahil hindi lang 'yan pera na hawak ng gobyerno. 'Yan ay perang galing sa buwis ng mamamayan at tama lang dapat na busisiin namin sa Kongreso, whether d'yan sa House o dito sa Senado, at tamang dapat maging accountable ang bawat executive official para sa hinihingi nilang budget," she added.

(That cannot pass because it's not just about the government's money. It's the people's money, coming from their taxes, and it's only right that we scrutinize it in Congress, whether in the House or in the Senate, and every executive official should be held accountable for the budget they're asking for.)

Before the heated exchange on the OVP budget at the House of Representatives, Duterte traded barbs with Hontiveros during the Senate hearing on her office's proposed 2025 budget.

Duterte accused Hontiveros of "politicizing" their proposed budget as the latter questioned some of the programs of the OVP which were similar with the existing programs of other government agencies.

Last Tuesday, the House committee on appropriations deferred the deliberations of the OVP's P2-billion proposed budget for 2025 amid the refusal of Vice President Sara Duterte to answer how her office uses its budget.

Aside from the OVP's proposed budget for next year, the Vice President repeatedly dodged questions about the Commission on Audit's (COA) findings on confidential funds, and her office's use of confidential funds in 2022.

Asked by ACT Teachers party-list Rep. France Castro about the COA's notice of disallowance on P73 million worth of confidential funds in 2022, Duterte said the hearing was about the proposed P2-billion OVP budget, which didn't include confidential funds for 2025.

As the OVP's budget sponsor, Adiong said Duterte should provide sufficient answers for her to secure budget approval.

"Well, she tried to avoid questions. It was very apparent. I cannot speak for her in the way she responded to the questions. But I can tell you, it's going to be a lot difficult task for me to defend and sponsor the budget," he told reporters.

"I was expecting more productive exchanges because that has been the tradition since the creation of the House of Representatives. This is actually the first time that I saw that kind of deliberation. I was hoping that all the questions from my colleagues would be satisfactorily answered," Adiong added.

The House panel scheduled the next budget deliberations on the OVP's 2025 budget on Sept. 10. — VDV/AOL/BAP, GMA Integrated News