The ongoing impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte should not prevent the House of Representatives from scrutinizing the proposed 2027 budget of the Office of the Vice President (OVP), House appropriations vice chair and impeachment team spokesperson Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong said.
The OVP is seeking funding under the proposed P7.2-trillion national budget for 2027, with no allocation for confidential or intelligence funds.
Alonto Adiong emphasized that lawmakers are exercising a separate constitutional mandate when examining how government agencies intend to use public funds.
“Wala pa naman ding desisyon ang korte patungkol sa impeachment trial, no? So I don’t see any reason bakit magkakaroon ng restriction doon sa mga katanungan na alam naman po natin na this is simply a constitutional mandate that each individual congressman and representatives are exercising,” he said during an online press briefing.
“Kasi po sa budget deliberation, talagang pinag-uusapan po dyan ay budget, no? Kung ano ‘yung intensyon ng ahensya para doon sa kanilang mga programa na gusto po nilang isulong,” Alonto Adiong added.
His remarks came after he was asked whether lawmakers could raise the OVP’s previous confidential fund spending during deliberations on its 2027 budget, even as those expenditures are among the issues being tackled in Duterte’s impeachment trial.
Duterte’s alleged misuse of confidential funds at the OVP and Department of Education (DepEd) is among the charges being heard by the Senate impeachment court. The prosecution is presenting evidence involving P500 million in OVP confidential funds and P112.5 million released to DepEd during Duterte’s tenure as education secretary.
Alonto Adiong noted, however, that the OVP had no confidential fund allocation under the 2026 national budget and, based on his information, is likewise not seeking one for 2027.
“Even the last year, just to be fair, wala naman pong confidential funds ang OVP even last year when we deliberated the 2026 funding,” he said.
“And this year, I learned that there is also not any item there in the OVP that also request for a confidential funds or anything of that sort,” he added.
He explained that the proposed OVP spending plan instead covers regular appropriations for personnel services, maintenance and other operating expenses, and capital outlay.
“Wala naman ‘ata akong nakita diyan that would resemble the expenses that is now being covered under the Articles of Impeachment, which is now being deliberated on the impeachment trial,” Alonto Adiong said.