DEPUTY Majority Leader and Tingog Party-list Rep. Jude Acidre chided the Office of the Vice President (OVP) for not attending the House of Representatives budget hearing on Tuesday, citing the importance of the tradition of budget hearings to understand the plans and projects of the offices involved. Rep. Acidre added such tradition is a crucial part of upholding checks and balance, a foundation of a democratic society.
During his manifestation on Tuesday, the lawmaker said: “The tradition of parliamentary courtesy or, properly speaking, it should be inter-branch courtesy because parliamentary courtesy is only afforded to the Senate as the other chamber of Congress.”
It can be recalled VP Sara Duterte led a disastrous budget hearing with the House earlier this month, where she evaded critical questions regarding the P2.037 billion budget the OVP is seeking.
Rep. Acidre can be recalled asking Duterte of how she intended to use her budget, but was met with a generic, unintelligent answer during his questioning.
“It is not a condition that’s above the Constitution, it’s bound by the principles inherent therein. It does not absolve Congress of the duty to review, to examine, to study, the proposed budgets of the agency. Nor does it provide an alibi for an agency of the government to perform its obligation to report to Congress every year,” Rep. Acidre furthered earlier today.
“The rules of parliamentary or inter-branch courtesy is simple: It’s all based on mutual courtesy. And if you can see how the House behaved during the last hearing, I am confident that we have afforded every courtesy to the Office of the Vice President,” he added.
“It doesn’t have to be the person, but the office we should put in high regard. And I don’t think the House or this committee was remiss in that obligation. But the question is, has the Vice President extended the same courtesy to the members of the House of this Committee? Her absence today is a clear manifestation that she does not intend to provide the same courtesy to us.”
“Her statements, even outside this hall, even outside Congress, would also tell otherwise. Maybe we wonder why this is the first time this committee has not extended inter-branch courtesy to a sitting Vice President. Is it not also because this is the first time that we have a Vice President who has also unfairly and brazenly disrespected the lower chamber?”
“Just last night, an interview of the Vice President was released imputing and raising accusations against the leadership of the House on a matter that would have been best defended here in this Committee. But unfortunately, the Vice President has decided to ignore the long-standing obligation of a government official of reporting to Congress. And instead preferred to address the matter in a television interview. I don’t know where the courtesy is in that.”
“The budget hearing is not just a mere technical exposition of figures, of budgets, of amounts. Hindi lang po tayo dito nag-uusap kung magkano ang pera na kailangan ng agency, magkano ang ating gagastusin at paano natin gagastusin. Ito ay isang sacred ritual na pumupunta rito ang representatives ng governemnt agencies ng ehekutibo, para ilahad, hindi lang yung kanilang budget kundi ang kanilang pulisiya, direksyon, at programa na nais nilang i-implement. Ito lang po ang pagkakataon ng kongreso para ma-examine, hindi lang yung pondong kailangan nila, kundi pati na rin ang direksyon ng kanilang pamumuno in their respective agencies.”
“As I said this is a sacred ritual. I think it is such a sacrilege for a government agency to disregard it. Yes, we agree with the tradition of inter-branch courtesy. But I made no oath to uphold that. The only oath that I remember I made was uphold the Constitution and the principle that a public office is a public trust. With that, we must uphold the democratic process of checks and balance upon which this democracy is founded upon,” he concluded
