Gatchalian calls out Sara Duterte’s absence at Senate budget hearing

MANILA — Senate President Sherwin “Win” Gatchalian on Tuesday called out the absence of Vice President Sara Duterte from a Senate hearing on the PHP 785.2 million proposed 2027 budget of her office.

Gatchalian said heads of government agencies are accustomed to appearing in person before Congress to defend their requested funds.

The hearing took place while Duterte faces an impeachment trial over allegations of unexplained wealth, incomplete asset declarations in her Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALNs), and prohibited business interests.

“Traditionally kasi, kapag ganitong mga budget deliberation, the head of office comes here to defend their budget. Alam mo naman yan. You’ve been here for the last four years and, traditionally, even last year when I was the chairman of the finance committee, si Vice President took time, came here, to defend her budget,” Gatchalian said during the hearing.

Office of the Vice President (OVP) Chief of Staff Atty. Zuleika Lopez explained that the Vice President was in Davao City to represent her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, at a ceremony for the interment of the ashes of a longtime city planner of the city.

Gatchalian nonetheless said he hopes Duterte will appear in person at the Senate’s plenary deliberations to defend her office’s budget.

“We hope that sa plenary, we would welcome her presence to further defend her budget. This is the first step. Alam mo naman iyan, may second step pa tayo which is the plenary. We would hope that she would give time to defend her budget,” Gatchalian told Lopez.

The Senate President stressed that agency heads must personally face Congress to answer lawmakers’ questions and explain where taxpayers’ money will go.

Despite Duterte’s absence, the Senate finance panel approved the OVP’s proposed 2027 budget of PHP 785.204 million.

The amount is nearly 11.7 percent, or about PHP 104 million, lower than the PHP 889.236 million allocated to the office for 2026.

The hearing lasted less than 20 minutes.

The OVP budget has drawn close scrutiny since 2024, when the House cut the office’s proposed budget for 2025 from PHP 2.037 billion to PHP 733 million over questions on the use of its confidential funds, according to The Philippine Star.

It was not the first time Duterte skipped congressional deliberations on her office’s 2027 budget.

On Sept. 22, the Vice President did not appear before the House plenary deliberations and was represented instead by OVP Assistant Chief of Staff Lemuel Ortonio.

The House concluded its deliberations on the OVP budget without interpellation, or questioning from lawmakers.

Meanwhile, Duterte continues to face an impeachment trial over allegations of unexplained wealth and undeclared assets.

The House impeached her for a second time in May, and the Senate, sitting as an impeachment court, opened the trial on July 6.

On Oct. 13, the House prosecution panel withdrew three of the four impeachment charges against the Vice President to focus on Article II.

The impeachment court granted the request the same day, The Philippine Star reported.

Article II centers on her allegedly questionable wealth, incomplete asset declarations in her SALNs, and interests in businesses prohibited under the Constitution.

Lead prosecutor Rep. Gerville “Jinky Bitrics” Luistro insisted that the evidence presented by the prosecution is sufficient and strong enough to prove that the Vice President should be removed from office.

“The prosecution believes it has presented sufficient evidence for Article II to stand on its own. All in po tayo dito,” Luistro said.

The impeachment court earlier heard testimony from forensic financial analyst Atty. Alexander Cabrera, who said the alleged unexplained wealth, undeclared assets, and income of Duterte and her husband, Atty. Manases “Mans” Carpio, from 2022 to 2025 amounted to PHP 817.87 million.

Cabrera said the figure could climb to nearly PHP 1.5 billion had he not used a conservative method in computing their financial records.

His analysis was based on bank transactions, income tax returns, corporate documents, insurance records, SALNs, and other financial evidence presented at the trial.

Duterte’s defense is scheduled to begin presenting its case on Nov. 9.