Sara Duterte snubs Senate hearing on OVP budget

MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte was a no-show at the budget hearing of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) at the Senate on Tuesday.

OVP Chief of Staff Atty. Zuleika Lopez, along with other staff members, were in attendance instead to defend the office’s P785.2 million proposed budget for 2027 before the Senate Finance Subcommittee.

Duterte was absent because she was “representing former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte in the inurnment of our long serving city planner in Davao City,” Lopez told the Senate finance subcommittee.

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In response, Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian said he hoped Duterte would show up once the OVP’s budget was opened for debate in session, noting that agency heads were normally expected to defend their own funding requests.

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“We hope in the plenary, we (can) welcome her presence to further defend her budget,” Gatchalian said.

READ: OVP ok to answer budget questions amid parliamentary courtesy offer

Finance Subcommittee chairperson Sen. JV Ejercito echoed Gatchalian’s sentiment, before submitting the OVP’s budget for consideration in less than half an hour.

Citing parliamentary courtesy, the subcommittee then swiftly approved on committee level the proposed budget.

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Parliamentary courtesy

“Of course, we accorded the OVP parliamentary courtesy. As I’ve said, it was among the very few agencies that reduced its budget for this year,” Ejercito told reporters after the budget briefing.

He noted that while many other agencies have been requesting for additional or bigger budgets, “the OVP had a budget cut, just like what the Senate did for austerity measures. So in less than 30 minutes, we passed their budget.”

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The OVP’s proposed spending for next year is 11.7 percent lower than its P889.236-million allocation in 2026.

“We just accorded the parliamentary courtesy being accorded to the executive department, and being the second highest official of the land, it is just fitting to extend courtesy to the vice president, whatever the situation is,” reiterated Ejercito, who gave assurances that the proposed expenditure would still be scrutinized and subjected to due diligence.

Sen. Imee Marcos, a known ally of Duterte, asked which socioeconomic programs under the OVP would be affected by the proposed 2027 budget reductions, and how the cuts would affect beneficiaries relying on the OVP’s assistance.

Lopez explained that the budget adjustments stemmed from the recalibration of programs like Magnegosyo Ka Day, which would focus on monitoring and evaluation this year to assess its impact. As a result, the OVP has reduced its target number of beneficiaries, she said.

Gatchalian recognized the role of the OVP in providing assistance to constituents while noting the proposed budget decrease. He said he reviewed the office’s socioeconomic programs and noted that the OVP was spending its funds “as efficiently, as wisely as possible.”

On pause

Duterte also did not attend the OVP’s budget hearing at the House of Representatives. In 2025, she showed up for her office’s budget hearings in both chambers of Congress. It was at the 2025 hearings before the House Committee on Appropriations that she faced questions about her office’s alleged misuse of confidential and intelligence funds, which eventually formed part of the impeachment articles lodged against her.

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The impeachment trial of Duterte is currently on pause to give way to the 2027 budget hearings. /cb