House defers OVP budget hearing due to lack of VP Duterte or undersecretary

The House of Representatives deferred deliberations on the Office of the Vice President's (OVP) proposed budget for 2026 because neither Vice President Sara Duterte nor an undersecretary attended the appropriations committee hearing on Friday, September 12, 2025.

The OVP's proposed budget is P889 million, a decrease from its previously reported P902.8 million.

House appropriations committee vice chairperson Jose Alvarez stated that an agency's head or at least an undersecretary should defend the budget and had advised the OVP not to attend if they could not send a representative of the required rank.

The OVP only designated Assistant Secretary Lemuel Ortonio as its representative, which the panel did not allow.

The committee has rescheduled the deliberations for Tuesday, September 16, 2025.

Vice President Sara Duterte has assured the committee that she will attend the rescheduled hearing.

While most in the minority gave leeway to the Vice President and supported the rescheduling, the Makabayan bloc expressed dismay over Duterte's absence, with ACT Teachers Representative Antonio Tinio stating that the OVP should face the committee as the proper venue.