CITING parliamentary courtesy, the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives abruptly terminated the budget hearing of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) on Wednesday over the objections of the Makabayan bloc.
Minority lawmakers strongly condemned the incident, which prevented them from scrutinizing the funds it had previously used – a practice done by lawmakers with all agencies, before proceeding to the new budget for next year. Of particular interest to minority lawmakers was the OVP’s use of its P125-million “confidential” fund last year and the newly proposed 2024 budget of the office of Vice President Sara Duterte.
Shortly after the OVP finished its audiovisual presentation to present its accomplishment report and proposed P2.39-billion budget for 2024, Ilocos Norte 1st District Rep. Ferdinand Alexander “Sandro” A. Marcos III moved to end the hearing.
“In line with long-standing tradition of giving the Office of the Vice President parliamentary courtesy, I move to terminate the budget of the Office of the Vice President,” Marcos said.
House Deputy Minority leader and ACT Teachers party-list Rep. France L. Castro and Raoul Danniel A. Manuel, who were both present, objected to the termination.
However, 21 members of the Committee of Appropriations voted for the termination of proceedings. The Committee did not count the dissenting votes.
“We condemn what was done in the Committee on Appropriations in the strongest terms, the suppression of the Makabayan bloc regarding our intended questions and interpellation on the so-called confidential fund, which is not even a confidential fund in the Office of the Vice President,” Castro said in a statement.
She was referring to how the OVP was unable to explain to the public how it used its supposed P125-million confidential fund even if it was not included in the 2022 General Appropriations Act (GAA).
Hiding something?
“It needs to be explained, this should not be kept as a secret because it seems like the OVP is hiding something. I think our colleagues in Congress, particularly in the Committee on Appropriations, have been lenient about this,”
Castro said.
Manuel also assailed Congress’s tradition of extending “parliamentary courtesy” during budget hearings.
“Our tradition of extending parliamentary courtesy stops us in the legislative branch to do our job for which we are paid by the Filipino people. We should have checks and balances,” Manuel said.
House Assistant Minority Leader and Gabriela Women’s Party Rep. Arlene D. Brosas echoed Manuel’s sentiment, saying the tradition prevents transparency in the budget deliberations.