Vice President Sara Duterte and her officials from the Office of the Vice President (OVP) were nowhere to be found during the House deliberations on their proposed ₱902-million budget for 2026.
Instead of showing up, Duterte reportedly set two major conditions before she would face Congress.
First, she wanted President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. himself to attend the deliberations on the Office of the President’s ₱27.3-billion budget. Second, she demanded that the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability present proof from the Department of Justice (DOJ) that the Immigration Lookout Bulletin Order (ILBO) against several OVP personnel had been lifted.
Those on the list include top OVP officials such as:
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Chief-of-Staff Atty. Zuleika T. Lopez
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Assistant Secretary Lemuel Ortonio
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Director Atty. Rosalynne Sanchez
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Director Atty. Sunshine Charry Fajarda
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Special Disbursing Officer Gina Acosta
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Chief Accountant Julieta Villadelrey
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Special Disbursing Officer Edward Fajarda
These officials had earlier been grilled by the House panel for the ₱625-million confidential funds that the OVP disbursed in 2022 and 2023.
Despite the absence of Duterte and her team, Palawan Rep. Jose “Pepito” Alvarez—who sponsored the OVP’s budget—stood alone to defend it.
“We have given the Office of the Vice President utmost respect in the procedures of this Congress. Yet today, there’s no one from the OVP. I am prepared to stand alone and defend the budget,” Alvarez said with clear frustration.
But lawmakers were not convinced. No one asked questions about the budget itself. Instead, they criticized the Vice President, describing her absence as a blatant show of disrespect to Congress.
Alvarez later declared that the House would no longer entertain Duterte’s conditions, stressing that this was already the last day of plenary deliberations.
Meanwhile, Duterte was in Cebu, personally distributing relief goods to earthquake victims after a magnitude 6.9 quake hit the province.
As of writing, the Vice President has yet to release a comment on the issue.
