KINASTIGO ni Deputy Majority Leader at Tingog Party-list Rep. Jude Acidre ang Office of the Vice President sa hindi nito pagsipot sa budget briefings ngayong Martes kasabay ng pagbibigay diin na ang tradisyon ng pagtalakay sa pambansang pondo ay mahalagang bahagi ng pagkilala sa checks and balance, na sandigan ng demokratikong lipunan.

Sa kanyang manipestasyon sa House committee on appropriations, sinabi ni Acidre: “The tradition of parliamentary courtesy or, properly speaking, it should be inter-branch courtesy because parliamentary courtesy is only afforded to the Senate as the other chamber of Congress.”

Matatandaan na nagkalat si VP Sara Duterte sa nakaraang budget hearing noong nakaraang buwan matapos paulit-ulit na iwasan ang mga mahahalagang tanong tungkol sa hinihinging P2.037 bilyong pondo ng OVP para sa 2025 at sa ginawang paggastos ng pondo noong 2022 at 2023.

Una nang tinanong ni Acidre ang bise presidente noon kung paano niya balak gamitin ang kanyang pondo ngunit isang generic at walang laman na tugon ang ibinalik sa kaniya.

“It is not a condition that’s above the Constitution, it’s bound by the principles inherent therein. It does not absolve Congress of the duty to review, to examine, to study, the proposed budgets of the agency. Nor does it provide an alibi for an agency of the government to perform its obligation to report to Congress every year,” saad ni Rep. Acidre.

“The rules of parliamentary or inter-branch courtesy is simple: It’s all based on mutual courtesy. And if you can see how the House behaved during the last hearing, I am confident that we have afforded every courtesy to the Office of the Vice President,” ani Acidre.

“It doesn’t have to be the person, but the office we should put in high regard. And I don’t think the House or this committee was remiss in that obligation. But the question is, has the Vice President extended the same courtesy to the members of the House of this Committee? Her absence today is a clear manifestation that she does not intend to provide the same courtesy to us.”

“Her statements, even outside this hall, even outside Congress, would also tell otherwise. Maybe we wonder why this is the first time this committee has not extended inter-branch courtesy to a sitting Vice President. Is it not also because this is the first time that we have a Vice President who has also unfairly and brazenly disrespected the lower chamber?”

“Just last night, an interview of the Vice President was released imputing and raising accusations against the leadership of the House on a matter that would have been best defended here in this Committee. But unfortunately, the Vice President has decided to ignore the long-standing obligation of a government official of reporting to Congress.

And instead preferred to address the matter in a television interview. I don’t know where the courtesy is in that.”

“The budget hearing is not just a mere technical exposition of figures, of budgets, of amounts. Hindi lang po tayo dito nag-uusap kung magkano ang pera na kailangan ng agency, magkano ang ating gagastusin at paano natin gagastusin. Ito ay isang sacred ritual na pumupunta rito ang representatives ng governemnt agencies ng ehekutibo, para ilahad, hindi lang yung kanilang budget kundi ang kanilang pulisiya, direksyon, at programa na nais nilang i-implement. Ito lang po ang pagkakataon ng kongreso para ma-examine, hindi lang yung pondong kailangan nila, kundi pati na rin ang direksyon ng kanilang pamumuno in their respective agencies.”

“As I said this is a sacred ritual. I think it is such a sacrilege for a government agency to disregard it. Yes, we agree with the tradition of inter-branch courtesy. But I made no oath to uphold that. The only oath that I remember I made was uphold the Constitution and the principle that a public office is a public trust. With that, we must uphold the democratic process of checks and balance upon which this democracy is founded upon,” pagtatapos niya.