House holds back scrutiny as Sara Duterte gets swift budget approval
MANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives wrapped up budget deliberations for Vice President Sara Duterte's office in less than an hour on Tuesday, September 16, after allowing her to answer only two sets of questions from the minority before swiftly approving her proposed P902.8-million 2026 budget.
Duterte showed up to the hearing without other OVP officials and told lawmakers she was ready to answer questions by "waiving" the tradition of parliamentary courtesy — Congress' practice of sparing the president or vice president from interpellations during the budget season.
She then fielded questions from Rep. Antonio Tinio (ACT Teachers) and Rep. Renee Co (Kabataan Partylist) of the Makabayan bloc on her office's past use of confidential funds and her more recent travel expenses.
But their interpellations ended shortly after lawmakers moved to terminate the briefing once they deemed Co had gotten in her final question — a motion the appropriations panel immediately granted.
The hearing is among the shortest for any agency this budget season at the House. It is also a departure from the chaotic turn of events last year, when lawmakers from both the majority and minority pressed Duterte and raised a barrage of questions about her confidential funds and other OVP programs.
The appropriations committee earlier extended the same parliamentary courtesy to the Office of the President, which saw its budget breeze past lawmakers in around 40 minutes.
Dodging questions on confidential funds
Tinio used his turn to press Duterte on the Commission on Audit’s (COA) disallowance of P73.28 million in confidential funds the OVP spent in just 11 days in December 2022 — a long-standing issue that is one of the bases of the impeachment complaint against Duterte.
COA flagged the lack of supporting documents and irregularities in the OVP’s accomplishment reports, which cited “reconnaissance, surveillance, and case buildup” activities.
Tinio asked whether the OVP could justify the spending and identify the programs that required such rapid use of funds. Duterte refused to elaborate.
“I cannot discuss defense strategy. I cannot explain intelligence operations without compromising national security,” she said.
Duterte added that the issue is tied to her impeachment case, which the Senate had already shelved last month.
"This is the subject of an impeachment trial, and I would not like to discuss the defense for the impeachment trial," Duterte said.
Tinio countered that taxpayers deserved to know how the money was spent. But Duterte was firm in insisting she would not explain beyond what her office had already submitted to state auditors.
Foreign travel expenses
Both Tinio and Co also brought up Duterte’s frequent foreign travel, citing at least 13 trips abroad since 2024.
Tinio asked Duterte how much of her overseas trips were considered as her "personal leave."
Duterte shared her extensive international travel since July 2024, listing trips to Germany, Japan, Hong Kong, Netherlands, Malaysia, Australia, South Korea, Kuwait, Paris and Belgium.
She stressed that no public funds were used for all her travels and that she didn't charge the OVP for tickets and accommodation expenses.
However, Duterte did reveal that her security detail and staff accompanying these trips cost the government P7.47 million across nine international trips. The breakdown included P4.75 million for three trips to the Middle East and Europe, P938,000 for two Southeast Asia trips, and P645,000 for one Australia visit.
Co pressed Duterte on whether personal trips justified bringing government-funded security and staff.
Duterte explained that the Armed Forces of the Philippines recommends three to four security personnel, but her office only approves two.
She said she brings three OVP staff members — for ceremonial affairs, media relations, and as her assistant — only when the trips involve official OVP activities.
Quick termination despite waived courtesy
Rep. Isidro Ungab (Davao City, 3rd District) had pushed early in the hearing to clarify whether the committee would grant parliamentary courtesy, noting the "long-standing tradition" of exempting the vice president from being questioned on their budget.
When Co was about to ask one more question about how Duterte's office previously disbursed confidential funds, she was cut off by lawmakers who moved to end the hearing. Alvarez — appropriations committee vice chairperson — approved the motion, which drew no objection from the majority.
The committee endorsed the OVP’s proposed P902.8-million budget to the plenary without further debate.
The OVP's proposed budget for 2026 is at least 21% higher than the P744 million allocation the OVP received in 2025.
— with reports by Dominique Nicole Flores
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