Politicizing the VP’s budget?

Government officials are expected to set good examples of behavior even when they are put on the hot seat, or when they are barraged with a lot of questions on matters that they should be held accountable for. After all, they owe it to their constituents to explain anything they have done, especially when it is about how people’s tax money is being spent. They may be the custodian of all our contributions to the national coffers, but they are just that—custodians. They should not treat these financial resources as their own.

It is but proper that one branch of the government—the legislative—will do the required checks and balances of how those in the executive branch plan to spend the resources allocated to them, as custodians of public funds.

Yet, in the recent Senate committee hearing to scrutinize the huge budget of the Office of the Vice President, VP Sara Duterte dodged legitimate questions on why many of the programs and activities of the OVP seem to be duplicating the services that are the main mandates of certain departments and offices of the national government. Instead of clarifying why this was so, the visibly irked VP focused more on insinuating that such scrutiny was a form of “pamumulitika” (roughly translated to political harassment).

In a tone that showed defiance against the questions of Sen. Risa Hontiveros, VP Duterte rambled on that she had promised during her campaign that she would serve everyone who comes to her for assistance, thus she cannot evade those who ask for her help. “I have to do justice to every man,” (Note the lack of appropriate gender-sensitive language) she added, noting that some people ask for her help since, as she insinuated those who seek assistance from offices of service departments like the Department of Social Welfare and Development will turn them away, alleging that they are “mga kalaban” (they are our enemies).

I wonder what she meant by this pointed insinuation—who is the enemy of whom? After she broke ties with her erstwhile UniTeam mate, then candidate and now President Marcos, she has repeatedly whined and ranted about how she has been mistreated by the leadership of the Philippine National Police (PNP), and other government agencies.

First, it was the notice of PNP leadership to reduce the number of her security detail who are members of the police force. To this she wrote a spiteful open letter to PNP chief Gen. Rommel Francisco Marbil, where she used words to elicit pity from the public. In that open letter, she expressed fears for the safety of her family members, especially her children. (Take note that she still has a sizeable number of security personnel even after the PNP’s decision to reduce it.)

During the hearing on her extraordinarily huge budget last week, VP Duterte showed her characteristic propensity for ad hominem arguments to answer the questions of Hontiveros. The latter asked the Vice President two simple questions: One was why the OVP allocated huge amounts for projects that are the main responsibilities of departments mandated to assist disadvantaged Filipinos to access various forms of assistance.

The other question was on what the story of the book VP Duterte allegedly authored that is to be distributed to early learners; how many copies would be printed (for P10 million). The book has a full-body picture of VP Duterte spread on the entire last page, and this is quite unusual. Many authors just put a small, ID-sized picture at the back of the book, with a brief caption. Isn’t this an insidious early campaigning strategy?

VP Duterte herself admitted that the book is to be distributed to learners who have parents who will vote. This was an indirect admission that she was placing her picture there for children’s parents who are voters.

Instead of answering directly, the Vice President ranted on and said “I don’t appreciate this kind of attitude and behavior of the senator, Madam Chair,” (to Sen. Grace Poe, chair of the finance committee). VP Duterte accused Hontiveros of “politicizing” her budget. She even narrated how candidate Hontiveros asked for help to make the latter win (with Davao votes) in the 2022 elections. She went on to describe the latter’s plea to help her win in Davao.

But she seemed to regret her efforts in helping the senator win since the latter did not lose time in attacking her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, and herself, who was elected vice president in 2022. These lengthy narratives were immaterial to Hontiveros’ questions; it was VP Duterte’s way of attacking the latter when she realized she could not answer directly the senator’s questions; instead, she resorted to attacking Hontiveros as a two-time loser in the senatorial race.

It is said that when one is losing an argument, one would resort to slandering their opponent, and this is usually the defense of fools.

rcquiam@gmail.com