Sara Duterte urged to apologize after denying beach trip

MANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives has rebuked Vice President Sara Duterte anew after lawmakers obtained a police report that confirmed she was on a beach early Monday morning — the day that the Office of the Vice President was supposed to defend its proposed 2025 budget at the plenary.

The OVP earlier denied that Duterte was at a beach while the House was waiting to conduct its plenary deliberations of her office's proposed 2025 budget on Monday, September 23. In its statement, the OVP also took a swipe at media outlets for publishing "fake news and media releases for clickbaits and profit."

But a spot report by the Camarines Norte police that details the security provided to the vice president earlier this week said Duterte and her companions had stayed at Calaguas Island from September 21 until the early morning of September 23. 

The report said Duterte and her companions checked in at a certain "I love Calaguas Resort" on September 21. Two days later, on the day the OVP was set to face the House plenary, the vice president and her group left the "vicinity of Calaguas Islands going to Vinzons, Camarines Norte" at 6:38 a.m., according to the report. 

LOOK: A spot report by the Camarines Norte police confirms that Vice President Sara Duterte checked in at "I Love Calaguas Resort" on September 21 and left Calaguas Island at September 23, 6:28 a.m. — the same day that the OVP was expected to defend its budget at the House… pic.twitter.com/OJCfm5dyLO

— Philstar.com (@PhilstarNews) September 25, 2024

"The vice president owes the Filipino people an explanation and an apology. This is not the kind of leadership we deserve – where the truth is hidden and lies are told to cover it up,” said Assistant Majority Leader Rep. Paolo Ortega (La Union, 1st District). 

House Assistant Majority Leader Rep. Jay Khonghun (Zambales, 1st District) said Duterte should have come clean about her whereabouts during the House budget deliberations. "This is about integrity. If she cannot be honest about something as simple as her whereabouts, how can we trust her on more important matters?" he said.

Rep. France Castro (ACT Teachers) said while public officials are entitled to their personal time, "it is unacceptable to do so during important budget deliberations, especially when denying the trip outright."

Prior to skipping the House plenary debates, Duterte sent a letter to the OVP's budget sponsor, Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong (Lanao del Sur, 1st District), dated September 11, where she said she was leaving it up to lawmakers to decide on the fate of the OVP's proposed budget. 

The letter did not categorically state whether Duterte would show up to the plenary or if she would send an authorized representative. 

As a result, lawmakers waited about 17 hours for Duterte or an OVP representative to show up to the plenary to defend the budget through a sponsor. Without at least a representative from the OVP, the House plenary could not tackle the proposed budget, said Rep. Raoul Manuel (Kabataan Partylist). 

"She left the chamber hanging and made the public wait for 17 hours. She disappointed the people who waited yesterday for the plenary deliberations for the OVP budget," Manuel said in mixed Filipino and English.

"It has to be noted, for the record, that the OVP is still spreading deception on its Facebook page, making it appear that defending the proposed budget is optional," he added.

Before the lower chamber suspended the plenary debates at 3 a.m. on Tuesday, a deputy majority leader said that the head of the OVP’s legal office, along with two others, arrived at the session hall before 10 a.m. on Monday. However, they did not have a letter authorizing them to represent the agency. 

The plenary debates for the OVP budget was rescheduled to Wednesday, September 25. Duterte was again a no-show.

On September 11, the House appropriations committee proposed to slash the OVP's requested P2.026 billion budget for new appropriations to P733 million. 

House lawmakers decided to reduce the OVP’s budget to 2022 levels following the Commission on Audit’s findings that P73 million of the agency’s P125-million confidential fund had been disallowed due to inappropriate spending.