DURING the House of Representatives' deliberation on the budget of the Office of the Vice President (OVP), Sagip party-list Rep. Rodante Marcoleta moved to extend parliamentary courtesy traditionally accorded to the second-highest official of the land by terminating the deliberations and approving the OVP's budget. The House Appropriations Committee senior vice chairman, Rep. Stella Quimbo of Marikina, subsequently divided the House to decide on Marcoleta's motion, resulting in a 45-3 vote refusing to honor a long-standing practice to approve without further deliberations the budget of the OVP.

Ostensibly, certain members of the House are itching to get a crack at pouncing on Vice President Sara Duterte, clearly for partisan political reasons. While the House has rejected the motion to terminate deliberations on the OVP's budget, they have overwhelmingly approved a similar motion for the Office of the President's budget proposal.