No more free passes: House urged to scrutinize every peso of OVP budget

MANILA, Philippines — A House lawmaker has called on his colleagues to no longer give Vice President Sara Duterte a “free pass” during deliberations of the proposed budget of the Office of the Vice President.

How Duterte spends the budget of the OVP — which lawmakers have consistently passed within minutes at the committee level since 2022 — should be scrutinized “down to every peso,” Rep.

Joel Chua (Manila, 3rd District) said in a statement.

“No more and never again shall the VP not be held to the same level of scrutiny as other public officials during the budget hearings,” Chua said.
 
The lawmaker issued the statement in response to another open letter released by Duterte on Wednesday where she lamented the state of the country “currently being led by leaders with no honors.”

Duterte’s three-page letter began with expressing gratitude to six Muslim tribes in Davao City for issuing a support statement for her family’s security.

The vice president then rattled off a laundry list of problems with the country’s healthcare system, flood control infrastructure, and lawmakers “trying to meddle with others’ issues.”

Duterte said members of Congress should understand that the shortage of police “cannot be solved during our lifetime due to the annually ballooning population and lack of budgetary resources to hire more personnel.”

“Subalit ang Pilipinas ngayon ay may representante na imbes na magpasa ng makabagong batas, ay nagpupumilit sumasawsaw sa isyu ng iba,” Duterte said.

(But the Philippines has representatives who will meddle in the affairs of others instead of passing new laws.)

Chua called Duterte’s letter “empty” and “full of generalizations” and challenged the vice president to show proof of how the OVP has helped create jobs and improve health care services.

“Siya ba'y komedyante, panay selfie, feeling artista, pero wala namang aktuwal na ginagawa? Patunayan niya sa Kongreso kung anong ginawa niya sa budget niya noong 2022, 2023, at ngayong 2024,” the lawmaker added.
 
(Is she a comedian, always taking selfies, feeling like a celebrity, but not actually doing anything? Let her prove to Congress what she has done with her budget in 2022, 2023, and this