MANILA, Philippines — House leaders on Tuesday, September 10, rejected Vice President Sara Duterte’s claim that the House speaker and the appropriations committee chairperson solely “control” the government’s budget.
Rep. Elizaldy Co (Ako Bicol), who is the appropriations committee chairperson, said that Duterte is merely deceiving the public to divert their attention from her need to explain how the Office of the Vice President (OVP) spent its budget in previous years.
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“Unang-una, again, pangbubudol na naman po 'yan. Napakalaking pambubudol, akala nila ang taumbayan hindi matalino, matalino po at sasagutin po natin yan,” Co said.
(First of all, this is another scam. It’s a huge deception, as if they think the public is not smart. The public is smart, and we will address this.)
“Obvious na diversionary tactic (ang sinabi ni Duterte). Nililihis niya ang issue kasi ayaw niyang magpaliwanang,” he added.
(It's obvious Duterte’s statement is a diversionary tactic. She’s deflecting the issue because she doesn’t want to explain.)
Co reiterated that the budget is deliberated not only by the House but also by the Senate. After both chambers complete their separate scrutiny of the government budget, a bicameral conference committee will be convened to finalize it.
When asked by reporters in an ambush interview about his allegation that Duterte is “corrupt,” Co said it has long been “common knowledge.”
Co likened the OVP’s spending of its P125-million confidential fund in just 11 days to the misuse of government funds by pork barrel mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles, adding that Duterte even "surpassed" Napoles.
He also claimed the Commission on Audit (COA) had reported that the OVP mismanaged confidential and intelligence funds, which COA is now requesting to be returned.
According to Co, state auditors found that about 60% or P73 million of the confidential funds spent by the OVP were considered inappropriate expenditures.
Before issuing a notice of disallowance to an agency, the COA releases an audit observation memorandum (AOM), informing the agency of any deficiencies found in its accounts, transactions and operations.
House Majority Leader Manuel Jose “Mannix” Dalipe noted that COA had also requested the Department of Education (DepEd) to return P12.3 billion in disallowances, suspensions and charges. He warned that Duterte could be held liable for graft if she fails to adequately explain the audit findings or provide the necessary documents.
“More than just allegations of mismanagement, she may be held liable for graft, for possible violation of the anti-graft laws, if she cannot adequately explain and justify the adverse findings, and if the COA does not accept her explanations and justifications,” Dalipe said.
RELATED: COA disallows nearly 60% of VP Sara's confidential expenditures in 2022 | COA: Sara left DepEd with P12 billion disallowances, suspension, charges
Co also cited the low math and science skills of Filipino children, as well as the spoiled food and nutribuns distributed to students under Duterte’s stint as education secretary, as justification for the vice president’s poor leadership.
“Nagsabi ang COA na mali ang paggastos nito. Kulelat ang mga bata, sirang pagkain at nutribun para sa mag-aaral. Malala ang panunungkulan,” he said.
(COA stated that the spending was improper. The children were left behind, with spoiled food and nutribun for the students. The leadership is severely flawed.)
In a second video message sent to the media earlier on Tuesday, Duterte revealed that Co and House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez are the two people allegedly controlling her agency’s budget, even when she was still the education secretary in 2023.
Philstar.com reached out to Romualdez but has not received a response as of writing.
RELATED: VP Sara accuses House leaders of meddling with DepEd classroom budget
Lawmakers have expressed their desire to rechannel the budget requested to fund the OVP’s social service projects to agencies mandated to manage and implement projects of this nature. This came after COA confirmed to the committee that almost P65 million worth of welfare goods were improperly liquidated or lacking documents.
The House appropriations panel deferred on Tuesday the budget hearing of the OVP for the second time after no representative from the agency was present to defend their proposed 2025 budget of P2.037 billion.