By Omar Fernando

DAVAO CITY – Deliberately missing the crucial budget hearing for the Office of the Vice President (OVP) at the House of Representatives last week, Vice President Sara “Inday” Duterte not only cited the technical reasons for her absence but also unleashed a contentious issue that the public must scrutinize.

In a statement issued before the hearing, the OVPasserted that it had already submitted “all necessary documentation to the House of Representatives – Committee on Appropriations, including a detailed presentation on the proposed budget for fiscal year 2025.”

However, the more compelling argument came from VP Inday during a live interview following the hearing, leaving the public unease.

She clarified the importance of informing the public on the details of the OVP's budget and that it was published before the House and Senate hearings.

She also asserted that the questions and answers at the House hearing were no longer necessary as they wereonly used by the other members to attack her person.

Holders of the purse

VP Inday's first striking statement was on the “who’s who” in controlling the budgets of all government agencies and on the issue of budget insertion.

“Ang budget ng Pilipinas ay hawak lang ng dalawang tao. Hawak lang siya ni Congressman Zaldy Co at niCongressman Martin Romualdez. Yan ang katotohanan(The budget of the Philippines is held by only two people. It is only held by Congressman Zaldy Co and Congressman Martin Romualdez. That's the truth),” VP Sara said.

Tainted with corruption

Co is Ako Bicol party-list representative and chairperson of the powerful Appropriations Committee, while Romualdez is the Speaker of the House.

Co’s name has been tainted with his businesses being involved in controversies even before he was named chair of the Committee of Appropriations in the House.

His Sunwest Corporation got involved in the Pharmallycontroversy and the anomalous supply of laptops to the Department of Education (DepEd).

Senator Joel Villanueva, in a privileged speech in February, openly called out Co’s business firm and its involvement in said anomalies and controversies.

“Ito pong kumpanya n’yang Sunwest Corporation, true or false: ito po ba ang isa sa pinakamalaking government contractors sa bansa? Sagot, true. True or false, ang korporasyon po ba n’yng Sunwest Corporation ay kasamadito sa controversial na Pharmally case na inimbistigahandito sa Senado na pinapakasohan ng Senado? The answer is true (This company is Sunwest Corporation, true or false: is this one of the largest government contractors in the country? Answer, true. True or false, is the corporation Sunwest Corporation included in the controversial Pharmally case that was investigated here in the Senate and is being prosecuted by the Senate? The answer is true),” Villanueva said.

He also identified Co’s company in the DepEd laptop scam and the number of cases it faces at the Bureau of Internal Revenue.

“Bukod po dito, yong reklamo po sa Ombudsman ng anti-corruption group na ang pangalan Task Force KasanagInternational ay meron din pong P50 billion na kaso nakinakaharap ang taong ito [Co] I(n addition to this, the complaint before the Ombudsman by the anti-corruption group called Task Force Kasanag International also has a P50 billion case faced by this person),” Villanueva said.

He added that despite the controversies surrounding Co and his company, Romualdez picked him as “guardian of the nation’s coffers.”

“Si Dracula in-appoint mo bilang tagapagbantay ng blood bank ng bayan! Wow, Mr. President. Kailan sa kasaysayanng bayan natin nangyari ang ganitong pagkakataon? Na isang big-time contractor ang hahawak sa kaban ng bayan! Only in the Philippines, Mr. President (You appointed Dracula as the guardian of the town's blood bank! Wow, Mr. President. When in the history of our country did this happen? That a big-time contractor will handle national coffers),” Villanueva said.

Co also owned the controversial luxury resort Misimis Bay in Bicol and was once tagged by Peter Advincula alias Bikoy as a drug lord.

Budget insertions

VP Inday also raised the issue of budget insertions made by the House Appropriations Committee to government agencies and instrumentalities.

“Sa Department of Education noong taong 2023, merongP5 billion na in-approve para sa classroom construction. Nagulat ako kasi merong mga lumapit na miembro ng House hinihingi nila yong parte ng P5 billion na budget (In the Department of Education in 2023, there was a P5 billion approved for classroom construction. I was surprised because some members of the House came and asked for part of the P5 billion budget),” she said.

In her understanding, the approved budget at the Office of the President level is transferred directly to DepEd for implementation, particularly in the construction of classrooms.

“So, sinabi ko hindi pwede ito kasi ang mangyayari nitohindi magagawa ng Department of Education ang trabahonamin na mag construct ng classroom ayon sa classroom backlog at sa prioritization (So, I said this is not possible because what will happen is that the Department of Education will not be able to do our job of constructing classrooms to address backlog and the prioritization [of projects]),” VP Inday said.

She also told the House members who approached her that the budget could not be slashed; otherwise, the agency could not construct the needed school buildings.

“Kaya kung makikita ninyo, sa budget proposal naapproved sa Office of the President, P5 billion yun. Pero nung lumabas yong GAA (General Appropriations Act), yung budget approved noong 2023, naging P15 billion siya dahil hindi nga ako pumayag na kunin yong P5 billion. Dinagdagan nila ng P10 billion yung classroom construction ng Department of Education (So, if you can see in the budget proposal approved by the Office of the President, that's P5 billion. But when the GAA (General Appropriations Act) came out, the budget approved in 2023, it became P15 billion because I did not agree to take the P5 billion. They increased the Department of Education's classroom construction by P10 billion),” she said.

She added that the DepEd has no control over the inserted P10 billion budget, which was run and disbursed through Co and Romualdez.

“So, bakit pa tayo magba-budget hearing? Dalawang taolang naman ang nasusunod,” VP Inday said.

Last week, during the continuation of the budget hearing at the House, the 2025 budget for the OVP was slashed from P2.037 billion, as proposed, to P733.198 million.