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Escudero said he hopes cooler heads will prevail in the next House Committee on Appropriations hearing on September 10.

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RG Cruz

ABS-CBN News

<p style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal">MANILA — Vice President Sara Duterte was not a friend to some lawmakers.</p><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal;min-height:15px"><br/></div><p style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal">That was Senate President Francis Escudero&#x27;s takeaway from Vice President Sara Duterte’s clash with House members during the briefing for the proposed 2025 budget for her office on Tuesday.</p><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal;min-height:15px"><br/></div><p style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal">It was an apparent reference to Duterte&#x27;s controversial children&#x27;s book, &quot;Isang Kaibigan&quot;, which some lawmakers want to defund in the 2025 budget.</p><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal;min-height:15px"><br/></div><p style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal">“[T]ila di sanay si Vice President Duterte na tinatanong siya at hindi siya sinasangayunan. Sa kabila naman, pinakita ng Kamara yung haba din naman ng kanilang pasensiya,” Escudero told the Kapihan sa Manila Bay on Wednesday morning.</p><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal"><br/></div><p style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal">(It seems Vice President Duterte is not used to being questioned and having people disagree with her. On the other hand, the House showed the limits of its patience)</p><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal;min-height:15px"><br/></div><p style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal">“Maliwanag sa napanood ko kahapon na tila di ‘Isang Kaibigan’ si Vice President Sara sa ilang miyembro ng Kamara kahapon. Sana magbago yun sa susunod na pagdinig,&quot; he added.</p><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal"><br/></div><p style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal">(It was clear from what I watched yesterday, she seemed to not be friends with some House members yesterday. I hope that changes by the next hearing.)</p><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal;min-height:15px"><br/></div><p style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal">Escudero said he hopes cooler heads will prevail in the next House Committee on Appropriations hearing on September 10.</p><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal;min-height:15px"><br/></div><p style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal">Asked whether the Vice President could be cited in contempt for her behavior, Escudero said he hopes that it would not come to that.</p><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal;min-height:15px"><br/></div><p style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal">&quot;Dahil wala naman nareresolbahan ang bagay na ‘yan lalo na pagdating sa paglilinaw na hinihingi ng mga mambabatas kaugnay sa budget ng [Office of the Vice President],” he said.</p><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal;min-height:15px"><br/></div><p style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal">(That will not resolve this issue and will not give House members clarity on the OVP budget)</p><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal;min-height:15px"><br/></div><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal"><strong>CLASH AT THE SENATE</strong></div><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal;min-height:15px"><br/></div><p style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal">Duterte figured in a similarly testy exchange with Senate Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros last week.</p><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal;min-height:15px"><br/></div><p style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal">Unlike at the House, where deliberations on the OVP’s proposed budget were deferred to September 10, the Senate panel, which had many of Duterte’s allies in attendance, swiftly endorsed the budget for deliberations at the Senate plenary.</p><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal"><br/></div><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal"><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/8/20/-i-don-t-appreciate-the-attitude-sara-duterte-risa-hontiveros-in-heated-exchange-1530">READ: &#x27;I don&#x27;t appreciate the attitude&#x27;: Sara Duterte, Risa Hontiveros in heated exchange</a></div><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal"><br/></div><p style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal">Escudero noted Duterte seemed friendlier to the Senate, “or the opposite is true, even the Vice President is friendlier to the Senate.”</p><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal;min-height:15px"><br/></div><p style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal">He said, however, that he does not want to judge either chamber since both have their own styles and roles in budget deliberations.</p><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal;min-height:15px"><br/></div><p style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal">In a blog post, former Sen. Panfilo Lacson pointed out that, traditionally, the budgets of the OVP and the Office of the President &quot;simply go through the formalities of a quorum call, acknowledgement of resource persons and budget presentations,” with Senate committee chairpersons later defending the proposed budget on the floor.</p><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal;min-height:15px"><br/></div><p style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal">&quot;The enmity between VP Sara Duterte and the designated sponsor, [Marikina Rep.] Stella Quimbo, makes the ensuing floor debates on the budget of the OVP an interesting watch,” he also said.</p><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal"><br/></div><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal"><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/8/26/imee-marcos-seeks-courtesy-approval-of-ovp-op-budgets-1503">RELATED: Imee Marcos seeks &#x27;courtesy&#x27; approval of OVP, OP budgets</a></div><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal"><br/></div><p style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal">Quimbo had defended Duterte&#x27;s proposal for confidential funds in budget deliberations in 2023, which earned her criticism and potential censure by the Liberal Party.</p><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal"><br/></div><p style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal">The House eventually decided to take money proposed for confidential and intelligence funds for agencies like the  OVP and Department of Education and put it in agencies more focused on intelligence gathering and on national security.</p><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal"><br/></div><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal"><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/09/27/23/house-leadership-to-realign-sara-dutertes-surveillance-funds">READ: House leadership to realign Sara Duterte&#x27;s surveillance funds</a></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><div><strong><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-iu6bhkyGbE?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span></strong><br/></div>

<p>Escudero said he hopes cooler heads will prevail in the next House Committee on Appropriations hearing on September 10.</p>

Escudero on budget hearing: Sara Duterte 'not a friend' to some House members

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Escudero on budget hearing: Sara Duterte 'not a friend' to some House members

RG Cruz,

ABS-CBN News

Published Aug 28, 2024 03:03 PM PHT

Read More:

Chiz Escudero

Sara Duterte

House of Representatives

Budget deliberations

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