Vice President Sara Duterte declined once again to defend the Office of the Vice President’s (OVP) proposed P2.037-billion budget for 2025, as she did not attend the second hearing at the House of Representatives on Tuesday, Sept. 10.
READ MORE: https://mb.com.ph/2024/9/10/sara-duterte-declines-defense-of-ovp-budget-proposal-anew
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READ MORE: https://mb.com.ph/2024/9/10/sara-duterte-declines-defense-of-ovp-budget-proposal-anew
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NewsTranscript
00:00And just to confirm, ComSec, no one from the Office of the Vice President attended?
00:21Yes, Madam Chair, that's true.
00:27Point of inquiry, Madam Chair.
00:29Yes, please proceed.
00:33Madam Chair, so it means that no one came from the Office of the Vice President
00:41to answer the questions of our colleagues, Madam Chair?
00:46That is correct.
00:48Madam Chair, yesterday we were not asked in the Office of the President.
00:54And now, the Office of the Vice President is not here to ask us, Madam Chair.
01:01So Madam Chair, I don't understand why our highest position in the land is like this
01:07in our budget hearings in Congress.
01:10Madam Chair, this is an insult to the Filipinos and to the bodies here in Congress
01:16that were raped by the citizens.
01:18We ask for accountability and we ask for clarity.
01:26Because we still have a lot of questions here.
01:30She may not like our questions last hearing, Madam Chair.
01:35She may not like being questioned about the OVP expenses.
01:39She may not like sitting with us here in the House.
01:43But Madam Chair, she is accountable to the people.
01:46And she has this sworn duty to the Constitution, being the head of the agency, to be here.
01:53So that we can defend or know her budget, Madam Chair.
01:58So that's all, Madam Chair, as a manifestation. Thank you, Madam Chair.
02:03On the non-arrival of our second President,
02:07I suspect it is because of the questions that were asked last hearing.
02:16I have heard the volume and the barrage of questions asked by members of this committee to the Vice President.
02:25Despite the fact, Madam Chair,
02:28I heard her several times saying,
02:31I forego the opportunity of defending the OVP budget for 2025 by question and answer.
02:40And I leave it to the House of Representatives to decide on such proposal as presented.
02:48That was the template of an answer given by the Office of the Vice President.
02:54Madam Chair, I was forced to raise a parliamentary inquiry.
02:59I think I have earned this.
03:02If I survive my term up to next year,
03:08I would have survived also, or I would have completed 18 years in this institution.
03:18And in this length of time, I have observed a tradition.
03:26The tradition is the two highest positions of government,
03:32namely the Office of the Vice President and the Office of the President,
03:36are not traditionally subjected to questions.
03:41I have observed this for a long time, for so long a time.
03:45May I refresh the memory of the members of this committee, Madam Chair?
03:53In 2022, the Minority Leader, Honorable LeBannon,
04:02citing courtesy to the Office of the Vice President,
04:08took only about 13 minutes to move for determination the budget of the Vice President.
04:14And after that, the Majority Leader seconded the motion.
04:19That was 2022, Madam Chair.
04:22In 2023, no less than the presidential son,
04:26our own Senior Deputy Majority Leader, the Honorable Sandro Marcos, stood up
04:33and invoked the long-honored tradition of according courtesy to the OVP,
04:39the Office of the Vice President.
04:42And in the same manner, he moved for determination of the Office of the Budget,
04:47the consideration of the Budget of the Office of the Vice President.
04:52I also recall, Madam Chair, that it was terminated.
04:57And with the full consternation of Honorable Franz Castro,
05:02who then objected, but her objections were never heard,
05:06until she moved to make a record by way of manifestation her objection.
05:13But the committee collectively said,
05:15you can no longer do that because there was already a termination of the hearing.
05:22This is the time-honored tradition, Madam Chair.
05:26For so long a time, we have kept and observed this.
05:29We have upheld this tradition.
05:33My question is, is this committee authorized to set aside or discard the tradition?
05:44That is the question.
05:48Your Honor, such motion was not introduced in the last hearing.
05:56I am now introducing the motion, Madam Chair,
05:59to terminate the consideration of the Budget of the Vice President, Madam Chair,
06:07on the basis of the long and time-honored tradition, Madam Chair.
06:12In order for us to respect a tradition in the same manner
06:15that we have respected the tradition here,
06:18that the first to interpolate every time is the member of the minority.
06:23That is the tradition.
06:25We have not yet discarded that.
06:27We are observing that because we are honorable members of this Congress.
06:32So the question is, why have we discarded that tradition?
06:40Is this committee authorized to set aside the tradition?
06:45If we are not able to do that, Madam Chair,
06:47then I honorably and respectfully now move
06:51to terminate consideration of the Budget of the Office of the Vice President.
06:57And I so move.
06:58Second, Madam Chair.