Unfriendly banter

August 22, 2024

MANILA – Is a book on friendship worth P10 million? Moreover, is it worth the taxpayer money?

In another saga of Vice President Sara Duterte asking for public funds, an item in her proposed 2025 budget piqued the interest of Sen. Risa Hontiveros during a Senate budget hearing: P10 million earmarked for the publication and distribution of the Vice President’s book titled “Isang Kaibigan (A Friend).” When the senator asked what the book was about, the Vice President didn’t answer the question and instead said, “This is an example of politicizing the budget hearing through the questions of the senator.” Most interesting to me is how the Vice President revealed herself: “Her problem is that my name is on that book and that book will be distributed to children whose parents are voters. And my name will be in those places where this book will be distributed.”

Duterte’s response, in my opinion, revealed that she is very much aware of the political gain to be had in distributing her book which describes her as a “true friend.” Worse is that she expects taxpayers to foot the bill. Without this political motivation, it would have been head-scratching as to why the VP got defensive over a P10 million-item in her more than P2 billion budget. She could have simply described what the story is about, which is what was asked of her, and broke down the costs of printing and distribution of the book. She could have answered using math and the hearing probably would have moved on. If the senator had asked leading questions and hinted that the book was a form of campaigning, then perhaps the VP’s response of “politicizing the budget hearing” would have been apt.

But that wasn’t what happened and instead what we got was a