Why Sara Duterte should show up in budget briefings

When Vice President Sara Duterte clashed with lawmakers during her office’s budget hearing on August 27, it seemed likely she would skip the next deliberations. Her avoidance of questions about her past use of her budget during the initial discussion suggested she would steer clear of further scrutiny.

Although Duterte was not required to attend the resumption of the budget hearing on Tuesday, September 10, her entire office completely ignored the congressional review of the Office of the Vice President’s (OVP’s) proposed budget of P2.037 billion for 2025, which infuriated lawmakers.

“This is a collegial body. And being a collegial body, us given the mandate by the Constitution to brief and ask questions concerning the budget, the fact that the head of the agency is not here today is further giving an insult to the body here. And that, I think, would be unconstitutional,” Manila 6th District Representative Bienvenido Abante said on September 10.

Instead of addressing questions about the OVP budget at the hearing of the House committee on appropriations, Duterte released a three-part series of taped interviews produced by the OVP, where she accused House leaders of “controlling” the national budget. She also alleged that the budget hearings would just be for her political harassment, a claim House leaders denied.

“We have small-scale operations so we can easily work even without a budget. We know that it’s part of the attacks. On our part, we will just continue with what we have to do for the people,” Duterte dared House lawmakers.

Due to Duterte’s attitude toward House lawmakers who were once her allies, political observers couldn’t help but compare her to her predecessor, Leni Robredo. Despite being in the opposition, Robredo was always gracious in answering questions about her budget.

The House panel eventually recommended a huge cut in the OVP’s budget proposal — from P2.037 billion to just P733 million. Here’s a breakdown of the reduction:

How many staff are affected?

One of the core issues with the OVP budget involves staff costs. House lawmakers cut the office rent budget by over P48 million, implying the potential closure of 10 satellite offices nationwide, which are located in Albay, Davao, Zamboanga, Cotabato, Surigao, Cebu, Bacolod, Tacloban, Isabela, and Dagupan.

As of August 31, the OVP reported 451 staff members across the Philippines, more than double the 205 staff members that former vice president Robredo had in her final year. Rappler has requested details on the number of staff working in satellite offices but has not yet received a response.

Budget expert Zy-za Suzara noted that positions for satellite offices are likely not plantilla positions but are probably funded through personnel services for consultants. The concept of satellite offices originated from Duterte’s office. This budget line item faces a proposed cut of P92 million.

Suzara argued that Duterte’s request for funding for satellite offices should not have been approved when she first assumed the vice presidency. Former spokesperson of Robredo, Barry Gutierrez, echoed this view, saying that the “conceivable motivation for setting up these satellite offices is political.”

“VP Leni never had any satellite offices. If she needed coordination at the local level, she’d work with the local offices of national agencies, directly with local governments, or with civil society partners. I actually don’t understand why a VP would need permanent satellite offices — the OVP does not have the mandate of a line agency providing direct services,” Gutierrez said.

With the House panel’s substantial cut to the OVP’s 2025 budget, it appears that only enough funds will be retained for Manila-based personnel and basic expenses, similar to the budget that the OVP received during Robredo’s term.

Political analyst Ela Atienza advised that Duterte should set aside her political biases if she genuinely cares about her staff. “She needs to consider their needs. It shouldn’t always be about her or her ambitions,” Atienza said.

If the Vice President truly believes that satellite offices are crucial for her functions, she should defend their budget allocation and attend budget briefings.

Based on the 2022 Commission on Audit (COA) report and assuming that staff working in satellite offices hold non-plantilla positions, approximately 70 staff members could be affected.

“She can no longer explain herself through constitutional processes and it would appear that she does not respect the House (by playing victim based on a taped interview) and she refuses to be accountable even to the public. While she claims to be the victim of political vendetta, she cannot explain and refuses to explain the budget, expenditures, and actions/non-action of her office,” Atienza said.

“While she may hate politicians in the House, the public who are the voters and taxpayers deserve answers,” she added.

Will massive cut affect OVP operations?

Suzara, executive director of the Institute for Leadership, Empowerment, and Democracy (iLEAD), said that significant budget cuts will not impact Duterte’s role as the second-highest official in the country.

“It will not impair her mandate as the Vice President, it will impair her political campaigning,” Suzara said, noting that satellite offices maintain her national presence and can be used to further her political ambitions.

Maintaining her political stature is crucial for Vice President Duterte, following her resignation as education secretary. While in the Marcos Cabinet, Duterte leveraged the Department of Education’s regional offices to sustain her national presence and project an image of a “working” vice president.

“Her only constitutionally-mandated function is succession in the event the president ever becomes unable to continue to perform his responsibilities,” Gutierrez said.

The former spokesperson also believes that Duterte can manage with the P733-million budget, as Robredo successfully operated her office within a similar budget during her tenure.

“If she wants to do more, as she claims, then she can take a page from the Leni Robredo playbook and inspire and generate support from the private sector and civil society for her additional initiatives,” Gutierrez said.

The House panel also recommended a zero budget for the OVP’s social services, which had previously been allocated P947 million. Lawmakers questioned the necessity of funding these social services, arguing that the programs simply duplicate existing government initiatives managed by line agencies.

If Duterte’s motivation for requesting funding for social services is to help people, she could learn from her predecessor how to collaborate with non-government organizations and private groups to extend aid.

The OVP has not yet released a statement, following the House panel’s recommendation for a substantial cut in its budget proposal. Rappler has reached out to the OVP for comment, but has yet to receive a reply as of this posting.

Not yet final

The OVP’s recommended budget of P733 million is not yet final, as the House will still need to debate the allocation at the plenary next week. While the Senate has completed committee-level deliberations on the OVP budget, it has yet to begin its plenary debates on the 2025 budget.

Senate President Chiz Escudero said that he doesn’t want to preempt the work of the House and the Senate as the budget proceedings are still ongoing. He, however, urged the Vice President and lawmakers to set aside their biases and “simply follow the process.”

Senator Grace Poe, who chairs the committee on finance, said on Friday, September 13, that every government office “will undergo an intense scrutiny to make sure that its proposed budget is allocated for the right purpose and spent accordingly.”

“We will approve or modify the budget based on the merits of the proposals of each office — not on who sits as its head. At the end of the day, we want a budget that will allow agencies to perform their mandate of delivering timely, efficient, and relevant service that will be felt by the people,” she said.

The Vice President still has an opportunity to defend her office’s budget request if she believes that substantial funding is necessary. Regardless of her current political alliances or circumstances, it is crucial for her to show up and make her case. – Rappler.com