Vice President Sara Duterte’s attempt to set terms for attending the budget deliberations was swiftly rebuffed by the House, with some lawmakers proposing another year of budget cuts to her office.
The Office of the Vice President’s (OVP) budget deliberations were scheduled for September 30 but were postponed twice due to Duterte’s absence and the lack of an undersecretary-level representative.
The deliberation for the OVP’s 2026 budget was rescheduled for October 2, the final day of plenary debates – but neither Duterte nor any OVP official appeared.
This mirrored the earlier committee-level hearings for the OVP, where only an assistant secretary appeared. The budget hearing was postponed to allow Duterte to attend, which she eventually did – and alone.
But for the plenary debates, she was absent.
The House typically requires department heads or undersecretaries to be present for budget deliberations.
However, instead of appearing, Duterte chose to set conditions for her attendance. In a letter to the House appropriations committee dated September 30, she said she would only participate in the budget deliberations if two demands were met:
That President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. also attend the deliberations for his office’s proposed P27.3 billion budget
That the House produce a document from the committee on good government confirming that the immigration lookout bulletin orders (ILBOs) against seven of her staff members had been lifted.
The staff in question were the ones subpoenaed to the legislative probe into the alleged misuse of the OVP’s confidential and intelligence funds during the 19th Congress.
They include her chief of staff and Undersecretary Zuleika Lopez, Assistant Secretary Lemuel Ortonio, Directors Rosalynne Sanchez, Sunshine Fajarda and Edward Fajarda, Special Disbursing Officer Gina Acosta and Chief Accountant Julieta Villadelrey.
Several minority lawmakers criticized Duterte’s ‘disrespect’ to the House and the Constitution after learning about the conditions she set.
Rep. Leila de Lima (ML Party-list), in a manifestation, sharply rebuked Duterte for skipping her budget deliberations while making time for the Senate’s plenary.
She mentioned Duterte’s presence on September 29, where she was seen applauding Sen. Chiz Escudero’s privilege speech, accusing former House Speaker Martin Romualdez of corruption.
De Lima pointed out the irony of how Duterte had no official reason to attend the Senate plenary, but she refused to face the House, where she is constitutionally required to defend her office’s budget.
‘If she can afford to be showing herself up to the Senate, including being there and applauding the former Senate president in his privilege speech, which is definitely not part of her mandate as vice president, why can’t she spare a few moments of her time attending to her official function as vice president to defend the budget of her office?’ she said.
The minority lawmaker said she would seek a cut in the OVP’s P902.89-million budget, noting she had first considered pushing for a zero allocation due to what she described as ‘very questionable’ actions.
‘But after some mulling and some reflections, and out of courtesy to the personnel and staff of the OVP, I’m just now thinking of moving for the decrease,’ De Lima said.
The OVP now faces another potential shortfall, the second in as many years, with lawmakers earlier cutting its 2025 request of P2.026 billion down to P733.2 million.
The House terminated the period of interpellations for the OVP’s 2026 budget given it was the last day for plenary debates in the chamber.