• 3 months ago
House suspends OVP budget deliberations as Duterte refuses to answer questions

Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong, sponsor of the budget for the Office of the Vice President, answers media questions on Aug. 27, 2024 after the House of Representatives deferred discussions on the OVP's proposal due to Vice President Sara Duterte refusal to answer questions. Adiong, however, is optimistic that the OVP's budget would be approved once 'cooler heads' prevailed.

VIDEO BY RED MENDOZA

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Transcript
00:00I don't want to pre-empt the result of the committee deliberation, okay?
00:04So we will stick our questions on what transpired today's committee hearing, okay?
00:09So how do you get assigned?
00:11Well, it's the usual, it's a decision of the committee.
00:14So it's, once you become a vice chairman, automatically you will be assigned this particular agency.
00:20So after today's budget deliberations, what's your impression?
00:24Do you think you will be having a hard time defending the budget in the plenary?
00:28If ever it reaches the plenary?
00:30Well, of course, I was expecting a more productive exchanges
00:35because that has been the tradition since the creation of the House of Representatives in the past.
00:40This is actually the first time that I saw that a deliberation went this way, you know?
00:46But as you're asking me, as a vice chairman, as a sponsor, of course, it's going to be a lot difficult
00:53if I bring this to the plenary and sponsor and then later on defend the budget.
00:59I was hoping that all the questions from my colleagues will be satisfactorily answered by the vice president.
01:07Unfortunately, that did not happen.
01:09So, of course, I'm a bit frustrated on how things went during the course of the committee deliberation.
01:17Sir, do you plan to talk to the vice president?
01:20I did. I actually went to the vice president and asked her if there's a possibility
01:25that we can sit down, her chief of staff and my chief of staff,
01:29so that we can also get data, apart from what she presented,
01:35at least some explanation on why the vice president,
01:39office of the vice president requested this particular program to be retained in the 2025 NEP,
01:48because the priority really comes from, the identification of priority of programs
01:54comes from the office of the vice president.
01:56So I would really want to know from her staff, from the office, her office,
02:02what prompted her, for example, to prioritize the list of programs and projects
02:11that she included in the proposed budget for her office.
02:16Definitely, I would like to have at least a leveling off
02:18so that it would be easier for me as a sponsor of her budget
02:23to sponsor and then defend this to the planner.

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