News Roundup 26 September 2023
Sep 26, 2023 • 4 min Read
Lawmaker stresses irregularities in OVP’s request for confidential funds, cites 2022 letter | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines — A lawmaker on Tuesday scored the “flawed” manner in which the Office of the Vice President requested additional funds in 2022, this time pointing out specific wordings in the OVP’s letter request to the Department of Budget and Management allegedly proving the adjustment was done through augmentation.
Citing contents of the OVP’s letter to the DBM in August 2022 — which the Office of the President sent to the House during plenary deliberations for its proposed 2024 budget — Rep. Edcel Lagman (Albay, 1st District) said that Vice President Sara Duterte had committed prohibited acts in requesting P403 million additional funds.
The letter also shows Duterte originally requested P250 million in confidential funds — double of what the OVP received in 2022.
Lagman said that the letter shows the OVP “requested for the release of funds by augmentation and for confidential funds, both of which are prohibited.”
Duterte has repeatedly refused to detail how the OVP acquired P125 million in confidential funds in 2022 even if this was not included in the 2022 General Appropriations Act, resorting instead to name-calling her critics and relying on allies to publicly come to her defense.
Full Story at: Lawmaker stresses irregularities in OVP’s request for confidential funds, cites 2022 letter | Philstar.com
China warns Philippines not to ‘stir up trouble’ over Scarborough | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines — Beijing warned Manila on Tuesday not to “stir up trouble” after the Philippine Coast Guard said it removed a floating barrier at a disputed reef that was allegedly deployed by China to block Filipino fishermen from the area.
Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea has long been a source of tension between the countries. China seized the ring of reefs from the Philippines in 2012 and has since deployed patrol boats.
The latest spat was sparked by a 300-metre (328-yard) floating barrier that was found across the entrance of the shoal last week during a routine Philippine government resupply mission to fishermen plying the waters near the shoal.
The Philippines condemned the installation and its coast guard announced on Monday that it had “successfully” removed the barrier from the reef, which Manila calls Bajo de Masinloc, in a special operation ordered by President Ferdinand Marcos.
The Philippine Coast Guard specified on Tuesday they had cut a rope tethering the buoys to an anchor on the seabed, and hauled away the anchor, which allowed the line to drift.
Full Story at: China warns Philippines not to ‘stir up trouble’ over Scarborough | Philstar.com
Risa to Sara on P125M spent in 11 days: ‘Saan niyo dinala ang pera?’ | INQUIRER.NET – MANILA, Philippines — Opposition Senator Risa Hontiveros once again chided Vice President Sara Duterte after it was revealed that her office spent its confidential allocation of P125 million in just 11 days.
In a statement on Tuesday, Hontiveros pointed out that confidential funds can only be spent on expenditures supporting surveillance activities of civilian agencies.
“Anong uri na naman ng magic ang ginamit nila para ubusin ang P125M sa loob ng 11 araw? Hindi na lang yan spending spree. Yan ay paglapastangan sa mamamayan,” said Hontiveros.
(What kind of magic did they employ to use up P125 million in just 11 days? That’s not a spending spree. That is an insult to the people.)
Hontiveros said that if the P125 million fund was indeed spent in 11 days, then the Office of the Vice President maxed out the funds by spending P11 million per day.
Full Story at: Risa to Sara on P125M spent in 11 days: ‘Saan niyo dinala ang pera?’ | Inquirer News
OVP, DepEd budget debates rescheduled for Wednesday — House majority | INQUIRER.NET – MANILA, Philippines — Plenary debates on the Office of the Vice President’s (OVP) proposed budget for 2024 have been rescheduled for Wednesday, the House of Representatives’ Majority bloc confirmed.
During a break in the deliberations of House Bill No. 8980 or the General Appropriations Bill (GAB) on Tuesday afternoon, ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro asked why the OVP and Department of Education (DepEd) — both headed by Vice President Sara Duterte — have not been tackled on the floor yet.
Originally, the House committee on appropriations’ schedule showed that after the Office of the President (OP) budget discussions, the OVP and DepEd discussions would follow.
“I just would like to inquire on our schedule for today, because, as written in our schedule for today, after the OP, there should be OVP and Department of Education. So, at this point in time, what is the estimated time that the budget deliberation for the OVP and the DepEd be deliberated today?” Castro asked.
In response, Deputy Majority Floor Leader and Iloilo 1st District Rep. Janette Garin said that OVP had informed them of a conflict in the schedule.
Full Story at: OVP, DepEd budget debates rescheduled for Wednesday — House majority | Inquirer News
