(UPDATES) VICE President Sara Duterte crossed swords with lawmakers at a budget hearing at the House of Representatives on Tuesday, where she called one congresswoman a convicted criminal and asked that the vice chairman of the panel be replaced.

During the hearing, ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro asked Duterte regarding the use of the P125 million in confidential funds in 2022, which also included the disallowance of some P73 million due to "non-submission of documents" in a Commission on Audit report.

Duterte later accused Castro of making a "snide" remark and asked the presiding chairman of the hearing to allow her to make a snide comment as well.

When panel senior vice chairman and Marikina Rep. Stella Luz Quimbo pushed Duterte to answer Castro's question, she attacked Castro instead, calling her a "convicted criminal" in reference to her recent conviction by a Davao court alongside the "Talaingod 12" in a 2018 case.

Duterte insisted she would only answer queries regarding the 2025 budget and not on the use of confidential funds.

"The topic is the 2025 budget... Madam Chair, why are we discussing the 2023 budget and 2024?" Duterte said.

"If she does not want to answer it, I will go through the questions. We questioned this P125 million as it is confidential, and it is in the people's interests," Castro said.

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