By Junex Doronio
MANILA — After Vice President Sara Duterte refused to answer the questions of the House Committee on Appropriations and “dictated” that a different lawmaker should preside on the panel, Rep. France Castro of the ACT Teachers partylist has expressed her intent to slash by half the proposed P2.037-billion budget for the Office of the Vice President (OVP) for 2025.
The national democrat legislator pointed out that there are too many programs that are not under the Vice-President’s mandate.
“Hindi trabaho ng VP ang pagpapalimbag ng libro niya. ‘Yung ginagastos niya sa ayuda, andyan DSWD, DOH, DTI Tesda sa livelihood. Tatanggalin ko ‘yun kasi wala naman sa mandate niya,” Castro noted.
On Wednesday (28 August 2024), the ACT Teachers party-list lawmaker criticized VP Sara’s actions during a congressional budget hearing in which she asked that a different lawmaker preside over the hearing.
“Nakita natin ‘yung tunay na ugali ng ating VP. Feeling niya underdog siya,” Castro said in an interview on TeleRadyo Serbisyo.
She added that she was also surprised when VP Sara asked that the chairperson of the Finance Committee preside over the hearing instead of House Committee on Appropriations Senior Vice Chairperson Rep. Stella Quimbo.
“Ngayon lang kami nakakita na isang resource person na magdidikta sa committee,” Castro quipped.
During Tuesday’s (27 August 2024) hearing, VP Sara was visibly irked after Castro commented on the OVP’s use of P125 million in just 11 days.
(ia/mnm)
