Minority lawmakers decry parliamentary courtesy granted to Office of the President's budget hearing

MANILA, Philippines — The House Committee on Appropriations on Monday, September 9 approved the motion to terminate panel deliberations for the Office of the President’s (OP) proposed 2025 budget due to “parliamentary courtesy" within at least 20 minutes.

Three minority lawmakers voted against the motion, saying the committee is showing “double standards” after it failed to scrutinize the president's budget and expenditure at all, unlike the Office of the Vice President's (OVP) budget, which was deliberated for nearly 11 hours on August 27.

In 2023, the committee extended parliamentary courtesy to both the OP and OVP, terminating the budget deliberations on their proposed 2024 budgets. 

“Isinalang nga natin ang OVP dito tapos ngayon nagbibigay ng courtesy sa Office of the President? Double standard ito,” Rep. Arlene Brosas (Gabriela Women’s Party) said.

(We subjected the OBP to scrutiny, and now we’re extending courtesy to the Office of the President? This is a double standard.)

Rep. Raoul Manuel (Kabataan Party-list) reminded the committee that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. himself said that all government agencies undergo the same budget hearing process. 

Asked about Vice President Sara Duterte’s claim that the House of Representatives is politicizing her office’s budget, Marcos last denied there is politicking. 

“It’s a hearing, there’s no politics in it," Marcos said last September 4.

“Kung ganu’n na ite-terminate natin ngayon ang deliberations, we are affirming ang pagiging brat ng vice president,” Manuel said. 

(If we terminate the deliberations now, we are affirming the vice president's bratty behavior.)

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Brosas pointed out that the substantial annual increase in unprogrammed appropriations should also be up for discussion. Under the 2025 National Expenditure Program (NEP), the government is requesting for P158.665 billion in unprogrammed appropriations.

For 2024, the approved budget for unprogrammed appropriations is 99.74% higher than the proposed amount in the 2024 NEP, an increase from P281.908 billion to P731.448 billion.

In 2023, the proposed budget for