Vice President Sara Duterte skipped her office’s budget deliberations at the House of Representatives on Tuesday, remaining absent from the chamber’s floor as lawmakers were set to debate her spending plan amid her impeachment trial in the Senate.
Lemuel Ortonio, an assistant secretary at the Office of the Vice President (OVP), was the highest-ranking official attending the office’s spending talks at the House plenary. It is unclear if Duterte will show up later.
The OVP requested P785.20 million in funding for 2027, 11.69 percent lower than its P889.23 million budget for this year.
Duterte’s spending has come under repeated scrutiny from lawmakers, turning budget hearings into spectacles in recent years as the vice president clashed with lawmakers demanding answers about how she used her funds.
Allegations of fund misuse raised during congressional hearings are among the charges fueling Duterte’s impeachment trial, which the Senate impeachment court is now hearing.
First raised at a House inquiry in 2024, the claim Duterte mismanaged P612.5 million in secret funds allotted to her office and the Department of Education, which she previously headed, are now among the charges fueling ouster proceedings against her.
She also faces allegations that she threatened President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., bribed officials to circumvent procurement rules and amassed unexplained wealth. Duterte had denied any wrongdoing, calling instead the effort to remove her from office as politically motivated.