Bratinella? Sara snubs House OVP budget hearing

After clashing with lawmakers last week over her office budget, Vice President Sara Duterte was a no-show at the House of Representatives appropriations committee’s second budget deliberation yesterday, earning condemnation from some lawmakers who described her as “bratinella to the max.”

- NEIL JAYSON SERVALLOS

Instead Duterte, who had denied being a “bratinella” or spoiled brat when she attended the first budget hearing, accused Speaker Martin Romualdez and the committee’s chairman of meddling with the Department of Education (DepEd)’s classroom budget for the past two years.

At 9 a.m., members of the powerful House panel assembled for the second round of deliberations for the Office of the Vice President (OVP)’s proposed P2.037-billion budget for 2025.

At the same time, Duterte’s office released to the press the second part of her taped interview, where she went on to accuse Romualdez and panel chairman Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Zaldy Co of hijacking billions in additional funds meant to build and repair classrooms.

Duterte revealed that she was approached by lawmakers from the House asking for a portion of the DepEd’s proposed P5 billion for classroom construction last year, which she said she refused.

“I was surprised that someone was asking for portions, telling me: ‘How much of that will be ours?’ So I told them, ‘This can’t be. Because the DepEd can’t construct classrooms based on the classroom backlog,’ ” Duterte said in the taped interview.

“So I told one congressman, ‘Tell Martin Romualdez that he cannot chop up the P5billion classroom construction’ (and distribute it to certain House members),” she added.

Duterte noted that since she refused the alleged scheme, the school construction budget for 2023 was increased to P15 billion, only P5 billion of which was actually for the DepEd.

The Vice President said the remaining P10 billion is part of a backdoor strategy and that Romualdez and Co, not the DepEd, had control over that portion.