No confidential funds in proposed 2027 OVP budget, says House Appro vice chair

There are no confidential funds in the proposed 2027 budget of the Office of the Vice President (OVP), House Committee on Appropriations Vice Chairperson Representative Jose Alvarez said Wednesday. "Wala. Nothing, nothing. So it is up to the president kung bigyan niya ng [if he will give] confidential funds yung Office of the Vice President. That is his discretion," Alvarez said in an ambush interview after the committee deliberations this afternoon, at which the OVP asked for P785 million for next year. Alvarez also said there was no request from the OVP for confidential funds. The impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte is currently tackling her use of the confidential funds allocated to the OVP and to the Department of Education when she was education secretary. The Commission on Audit has issued notices of disallowance for the OVP confidential funds in 2022 and 2023. Since then, the OVP has not been given any confidential fund. Objection to parliamentary courtesy During the deliberations of the House Committee on Appropriations on the proposed budget of the OVP today, BH Party-list Representative Robert Nazal moved to extend parliamentary courtesy to the OVP—the act of approving budget proposals without discussion, usually accorded to the President and the Vice President. "Yesterday, this committee extended to the Office of the President a long-standing courtesy, passing its budget without interpellation in recognition of its standing as co-equal branch of government. Today, I respectfully ask the same courtesy to the Office of the Vice President," Nazal said. "The vice president is currently facing the weight of an impeachment proceeding, a burden already heavy enough on its own. Her budget, moreover, has not grown. It remains modest and unremarkable," he added. Several members of the committee objected to the motion, including House Deputy Minority Leader and ACT Teachers Party-list Representative Antonio Tinio. "Nilinaw natin kahapon sa ating paliwanag na dapat ibasura na itong inter-parliamentary courtesy, lalo na pag usapin ng budget dahil nga tungkulin natin, ng lahat ng nasa gobyerno, ay maging transparent kung paano ginagamit ang pondo ng taumbayan," Tinio explained. (We clarified yesterday about how we should junk this inter-parliamentary courtesy, especially when budgets are discussed, because it is the duty of all of us in this government to be transparent about how we use public funds.) "Anong susunod dito? Another co-equal branch is the judiciary. Magmo-move na rin ba kayo na hindi na rin natin bubulatlatin o bubusisiin ang budget ng judiciary? Hindi naman yon nangyayari ever," he added. (What next? Another co-equal branch is the judiciary. Are you also going to move that we do not discuss or scrutinize the judiciary's budget? That's not going to happen ever.) He also called for an end to the said tradition. "Kailangang itigil na po natin ang practice na ito. Anyway, I am sure handa naman na sagutin ng Office of the Vice President anumang tanong kaugnay sa kanilang budget ngayon," Tinio stated. (We need to stop this practive. Anyway, I am sure the Office of the Vice President is ready to answer any questions we have regarding the proposed budget.) Upon query of Alvarez, Nazal agreed to set aside his motion. This was after OVP Chief of Staff Zuleika Lopez agreed to answer questions. Alvarez said the OVP had written the committee two days ago to inform them that Lopez was reepresenting the office in the budget deliberations. Alvarez explained that it is usually the head of agency who defends the its budget proposal, but that an official with the rank of undersecretary is allowed to represent the agency. Duterte has not attended the impeachment trial, at which staffers under her have already testified. — BM, GMA News