DURING the discussion of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) proposed budget, Vice Pres. Sara Duterte and Sen. Risa Hontiveros got into a heated argument.
In the Senate finance subcommittee hearing on the OVP’s proposed budget for 2025, Hontiveros questioned some of Duterte’s programs and its proposed budget for P2.037 billion.
Hontiveros questioned that the programs under Vice President Duterte seemed to be replicating the work of other government agencies including disaster operations, medical assistance, burials, livelihood support, etc.
Duterte later came to explain that the programs were what the public requested from her after she had taken office.
Hontiveros then shifted the topic to the OVP’s “Pagbabago” campaign for 2025, which aims to provide one million students with school supplies in bags. Hontiveros asked if the OVP could submit the budget of some of its programs to other line agencies and request the allocation from them.
The said project has proposed a P100 million allocation with P10 million to focus on the distribution of Durterte’s children’s book titled, “Isang Kaibigan.”
With Duterte’s book being on the topic, Hontiveros proceeded to ask for more details about the book to which Duterte refused to answer and instead claimed that Hontiveros is politicizing the budget of the government.
In response, Hontiveros argued that Duterte’s comment had nothing to do with her question–emphasizing that political speech and their budget discussion are unconnected.
Yet again, Hontiveros repeated her question about the quantity and substance of Duterte’s book—to which Duterte replied with how the book is not for sale and that they’ll only pay for the publication of the book.
Duterte added that she will also send Hontiveros a copy so that she’ll know what the book is about.
Not being satisfied with what she heard, Hontiveros–once again asked the same question, persisting that the question was also for the knowledge of other members of the budget hearing.
“Simpleng tanong, tell us more about the book Isang Kaibigan at ilang kopya nito ang bibilhin ng gobyerno sa halagang P10 milyong piso at idi-distribute kasama ng mga bags sa one million learners sa remote communities,” she said.
Instead of answering, once again the Vice President accused the senator of politicizing–noting that the problem of this is because her name was written on the book and that the book will be distributed to the children.
“Yung mga bata na ‘yan may mga magulang na boboto, at ‘yung pangalan ko ay nagkalat doon sa kung saan man ibibigay ‘yung libro,” she added.
With the heated exchange of arguments, it didn’t stop there as Hontiveros later called out Duterte for the attitude she was displaying during the budget discussion.
“Madam Chair hindi ko maintindihan yung ugali ng ating resource person. It is a simple question. Paulit-ulit na this is politicizing. Ang VP ang nagbanggit ng salitang boboto. Wala akong sinabing boboto. I’m simply asking. Hindi ko ma-imagine we’re making so much trouble, so much fuss about a P10 million item,” Hontiveros said.
In response, Duterte later recounted that Hontiveros had asked her for help in winning her senatorial bid back in 2016.
Before the situation escalated, Sen. Grace Poe intervened and requested that the discussion should stay within the topic of the proposed budget.
Poe later asked what the book is about with Duterte responding that coming from the title itself, the book is about friendship.
Netizen’s reactions
With the heated argument resurfacing in the media, many netizens had come to X–talking about the situation.
Hontiveros receives a copy of “Isang Kaibigan”
On the same day, Sen. Hontiveros had received a copy of Duterte’s children’s book. She later posted a video on her TikTok account with the caption “very demure, very cutesy, very mindful.”
