The House of Representatives on Wednesday reminded Vice President Sara Duterte to respect the constitutional role of Congress in the national budget process, following her remarks that the Office of the Vice President (OVP) opted not to request a higher budget for 2026 due to expectations of being denied by the lower chamber and to spare her personnel from embarrassment.

“Well, unang-una, maganda na nakikita natin sa statement ni Vice President Sara Duterte na nire-recognize niya ang role ng Kongreso, ng Kamara sa budget process. Magre-request siya sa House of Representatives ng budget (it’s good that Vice President Duterte recognizes the role of the House of Representatives in the budget process. She will request a budget from Congress),” House spokesperson Princess Abante said in a press briefing.

“Sana nare-recognize din niya na kasama sa responsibilidad ng Kamara, hindi lang ‘yung makapag-request siya, kundi kasama sa responsibilidad ng Kamara suriin ang paggamit ng pondo na nailaan sa (OVP) at ma-justify din ng (OVP) ang budget na hinihingi nila (We also hope that she recognizes the responsibility of the House to examine how public funds are spent by the OVP, and for the OVP to justify their budget proposals).”

During last year’s budget deliberations for the 2024 national budget, the House slashed the OVP’s initial PHP2.026 billion budget proposal down to PHP733.2 million — a reduction of more than PHP1.3 billion.

A major factor behind the budget cut was public concern over the OVP’s request for PHP500 million in confidential and intelligence funds, which accounted for roughly 21 percent of the original proposal.

The move followed revelations that the OVP had spent PHP125 million in confidential funds within just 11 days in late 2022 — a disbursement flagged by the Commission on Audit.

House leaders emphasized that all budget items — especially confidential funds — must be supported by solid documentation, clear performance metrics, and full transparency to uphold public accountability.

Responding to Duterte’s claim that she no longer asked for a larger budget to avoid “embarrassing” her personnel, Abante dismissed the narrative as “misleading.”

“Wala naman pong pinapahiya ang House of Representatives sa budget process. Kasama sa trabaho ng House (The House does not embarrass anybody in the budget process. It’s part of the House’s duty) to scrutinize the use of public funds allocated to them and funds that they are requesting for,” Abante said.

She emphasized that the scrutiny of public funds is not a political act but a constitutional duty to ensure that government spending truly serves the public.

“Walang pagpapahiya dito. Ang importante lang sumagot ng tama, sumagot ng ayon sa mga dokumento na meron — hindi naman para sa personal na pulitika, ito ay para sa mamamayang Pilipino na we are accountable to (There’s no act of demeaning someone here. What is important is they answer factually, in accordance with the documents presented – this is not for personal politics, it is for the Filipino people that we are accountable for).” (PNA)