The House of Representatives has rescheduled to Tuesday, September 24, the plenary deliberations on the proposed 2025 budget of the Office of the Vice President.

The motion was filed to include the OVP's budget in today's calendar of business after Vice President Sara Duterte and other OVP officials failed to show up before the lower chamber.

The budget deliberations was originally scheduled at 10 a.m. Monday but Duterte did not show up and the representative sent by the OVP has no written authorization, according to House Minority Leader Marcelino Libanan.

The lawmakers waited until around 3 a.m. of September 24, before the motion to reschedule was filed.

Kabataan Partylist Rep. Raoul Manuel said the Vice President's action is a "clear betrayal of public trust" and cited the number of incidents where the Vice President has been "evasive" and has not taken the lawmakers' questions seriously.

"We actuallly waited for 17 hours since 10 a.m. of September 23 up until maga-alas tres na po ngayon September 24.  We would like to state for the record ang naging consistent na track record ng Office of the Vice President sa past hearing kung saan ni-nais talakayin ang paggastos ng OVP sa pondo ng bayan. Mr. Speaker, sa unang salang sa Committee on Appropriations ay naging evasive po ang nakaupong bise presidente at hindi sinasagot ng tuwiran ang ating mga tanong," he said.

"Sa pangalawang hearing ng committee on appropriations,  hindi rin po siya nagpakita. Sa isang hearing ng Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability siya'y tumanggi na mag oath at umalis tila ba ay nag-walk out sa hearing," he added.

He then stated on his short manifestation, the importance of the deliberation of the OVP's budget or of any agencies.

"Mr. Speaker, kapag ang bata nanghingi ng pera sa magulang para sa school project or school fee dapat mag explain. Hindi binibigyan pag hindi nagpapaliwanag...Dapat may resibo para patunayan paano gumastos," he said.

"Kapag student council at sa Sangguniang Kabataan, dumadaan sa butas ng karayom para magkapondo. Kahit ang ganda ng plano, di tiyak na mapoponduhan. Pero kapag sitting Vice President ang nag-propose ng budget mula sa kaban ng bayan, parang ang gustong iparamdam sa mga Pilipno ay bahala na kayo kung ibibigay niyo o hindi ang hinihingi ko. Pero pag ayaw niyong ibigay, masama kayo," he added.

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He ended his speech saying the Vice President's actions as betrayal of public trust.

"Mr. Speaker, to end, this is a clear betrayal of public trust as every elected official is accountable to the electorate and thus is obliged to answer any questions that concerns public interests," he said.

Previous absences and failure of the Vice President to defend her office's budget prompted the House committee to slash its over P2 billion budget proposal to P733 million last September 10

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The P1.29 billion that was removed from the OVP’s proposal will be realigned to social protection programs under the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the Department of Health.

Duterte previously said that her office will make do with whatever funding is allocated to it under the General Appropriations Act (GAA).

She previously accused House Speaker Martin Romualdez and House Committee on Appropriations Chairperson of controlling the national budget, which House leaders and other lawmakers denied. 

They, instead, accused the Vice President of diverting the issue from explaining her utilization of confidential funds in 2022.