Vice President Sara Duterte attends a hearing for the Office of the Vice President's 2025 budget at the House of Representatives on August 27, 2024.  Photo courtesy of the House of Representatives

MANILA — President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. on Wednesday denied Vice President Sara Duterte’s claims that lawmakers are politicizing the budget deliberations for the Office of the Vice President (OVP).

• VP Duterte says she's still 'friends' with Marcos following Cabinet exit 

In an interview, Marcos said he does not understand why the Vice President would make such assertions, explaining that the legislative process of deliberating the budget of a government agency has nothing to do with politics. 

“This is a budget hearing... This is something that every single government agency has to do. It's a hearing, there's no politics in it. We do it every year, we do it with the same department, we do it...That process is well established, it has nothing to do with politics,” Marcos said.

• 'It's her prerogative,' Marcos Jr. says of VP Duterte's apology to KOJC members 

“It has to do with the budget so I don't know how can she characterize these things, which is essentially an information gathering exercise for the House and for the Senate, so that they know what the budget will look like. So malayo sa politika yun," he added.

• 'Nabasag 'yung UniTeam': Duterte resignation saddens lawmaker

In a clear departure from OVP's budget hearings in previous years, Duterte's office this year faced tougher questioning from legislators. 

Duterte had a heated exchange with Sen. Risa Hontiveros during the Senate finance committee's hearing on the proposed 2025 budget of the OVP, particularly when the senator asked about a children's book authored by Duterte, and its proposed budget of P10 million.

• 'I don't appreciate the attitude': Sara Duterte, Risa Hontiveros in heated exchange 

At the House of Representatives, lawmakers zeroed in on the OVP’s P125 million confidential funds in 2022. The House panel went on to defer the deliberations on the OVP's proposed budget to September 10.

• House panel defers approval of OVP’s proposed 2025 budget

The apparent clash between the Marcos and Duterte camps continues to escalate following the resignation of Duterte from the Marcos cabinet in June.

RELATED VIDEO