Duterte urged to resign over OVP budget squabble

ASSISTANT House Majority Leader and Ako Bicol Partylist Rep. Raul Angelo Bongalon said Vice President Sara Duterte should resign for not showing interest in defending her office's budget for 2025. Duterte and officials of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) were absent during the House plenary hearing on Tuesday. "If she is not interested in her duties and functions as the vice president, we can ask the Vice President to step down," Bongalon said in a press briefing. Reports said Duterte opted to spend the day in Calaguas Island in Camarines Norte. "In other words, it meant that she has no intention of attending our plenary hearings to sponsor and defend the OVP's budget. If she has that intention, she should have been in Manila on Sunday, or she should have communicated to the office of Rep. Adiong to brief him and prepare questions," Bongalon added. Meanwhile, Deputy Speaker David Suarez said that many members of the House of Representatives were equally frustrated with Duterte. "As head of an agency, you have to go through the process," Suarez said. Manila Rep. Rolando Valeriano appealed to Duterte to attend the hearing for the Filipino people. "The vice president can attend the plenary presentation, not for the House, but at least for the Filipino people, her staff, and for Congressman Adiong, who comes from Mindanao. During the plenary phase of the budget process, the head of agency does not speak but should be present in the gallery behind the sponsor of the agency budget," Valeriano said. The OVP said Duterte's trip to Bicol was official. "The vice president was on the road... talking to the people about the current events in our country. She made stops in Vinzons and Daet, Camarines Norte, and Legazpi, Albay. It is quite easy to confirm her activities through social media posts of the residents in these areas," it said on Monday.