Why Does VP Duterte's Isang Kaibigan Have a P10 Million Budget?
The printing of each copy is estimated to cost P50.
(SPOT.ph) It’s not every day a seemingly innocent storybook becomes the center of controversy, but with a P10 million price tag, Isang Kaibigan by Vice President Sara Duterte has certainly caught the attention of Senator Risa Hontiveros in a recent Senate budget hearing.
In a radio interview, Office of the Vice President (OVP) Spokesperson Michael Poa explained that the printing of each copy is estimated to cost P50, leading to a proposed budget of P10 million to print up to 200,000 copies for distribution in remote communities. However, Poa mentioned that the actual cost could decrease during the bidding process.
“The book is not for sale, we only pay for the publication of the book,” Duterte clarified during the hearing. The book is part of the PagbaBAGo Campaign, the OVP’s flagship initiative to distribute one million bags of school supplies and plant one million seedlings.
Hontiveros raised concerns about the item, which was included in VP Duterte's proposed 2025 budget. On Wednesday, the opposition senator received her copy of Isang Kaibigan.
“I think in principle, improper request ‘yan. Dahil kung mayroon kang sinulat na libro, kung ikaw sumulat niyan, hindi dapat gamitan ng government funds at taxpayers’ money para ipamudmod,” Hontiveros said in a press conference on August 21. “It’s a proper item for realignment.”
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What is Isang Kaibigan by Sara Duterte about?
Isang Kaibigan tells the story of an owl named Kwago who, after being abandoned by most of his friends following a storm, is helped by Loro, a parrot, to rebuild his life. The book has 16 colored pages, but the story only fills eight pages for readers in Grades 1 to 4.
The last page contains an author’s bio along with a portrait of Duterte: “Kilalanin si Inday Sara Duterte. Si Inday Sara ang ika-labinlimang Pangalawang Pangulo ng Pilipinas. Siya rin ay naging Alkalde ng Lungsod ng Davao at Kalihim ng Kagawaran ng Edukasyon. Siya ay isang tunay na kaibigan.”
In the Senate budget hearing on August 20, Hontiveros questioned whether a P10 million budget for this literary endeavor was really necessary to be part of the OVP’s proposed budget for 2025.
While requesting additional information about the book, Duterte accused Hontiveros of “politicizing the budget.”
"Ang problema niya kasi nakalagay ‘yung pangalan ko doon sa libro at ‘yung libro na ‘yan ibibigay namin doon sa mga bata at ‘yung mga bata na ‘yan may mga magulang na boboto at ‘yung pangalan ko ay nagkalat doon sa kung saan man ibibigay ‘yung libro," Duterte said.
To which Hontiveros responded: "Hindi ko maintindihan ‘yung ugali ng ating resource person. It is a simple question. Paulit-ulit na this is politicizing. Ang VP ang nagbanggit ng salitang boboto. Wala akong sinabing boboto. I’m simply asking. Hindi ko ma-imagine we're making so much trouble, so much fuss about a P10 million item.”
Duterte eventually summarized the book at Senator Grace Poe’s request, explaining that it was about the importance of friendship—a response that Hontiveros pointed out could have been given from the start.
Isang Kaibigan might only be making noise now, but the book was actually first launched in November 2023. According to Duterte then, she has wanted to write a book for a long time now, but only recently found the inspiration to bring her story to life.
As for accusations of Duterte's early campaigning using the children's book, Poa said, “Malayo ‘yan sa isip ng acting vice president.”
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