Vice Pres. Sara Duterte Speaks on Budget Utilization of OVP
SARA DUTERTE – The Vice President reacted on her office being tagged as one of the offices with the lowest fund utilization rate.
Undeniably, one of the most controversial government offices in the Philippines now is the OVP or the Office of the Vice President. This year’s issue and questions on its funds is not the first time as the Confidential Funds of the OVP was scrutinized last year,
In 2023, the House of Representatives removed the Php 1.23 billion worth of confidential funds of five (5) agencies including the CIFs of the Office of the Vice President. The office of Vice Pres. Sara Duterte’s proposed budget for 2025 no longer includes the Confidential Funds.
The Office of the Vice President asked for a Php 2 billion budget for next year. However, before passage, it will have to undergo a lot of scrutiny. There are also a lot of questions on the spendings of the country with regards to the security of the Vice President.
The questions came after several authorities previously announced that 400 personnel of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) are assigned for the security of the Vice President. The statements came after the recall of the 75 PNP cops assigned for Duterte’s security were recalled.
Recently, the office of Vice Pres. Sara Duterte was listed as one of the government offices with the lowest fund utilization rate. Based on a report on ABS-CBN News, the Vice President reacted to the information released by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).
According to Vice Pres. Duterte, what she knows is that the House of Representatives has the lowest budget utilization rate this 2024. She believes that they should first present their catch-up plan.
“Ang alam ko ang lowest is the House of Representatives… Sila siguro muna yung una-unang magpresinta ng kanilang catch-up plan,” the Vice President said.
Based on the report, during the interview, the Vice President also gave her reaction on the drug case involving her husband, Attorney Manases Carpio, and her older brother, Davao City Representative Paolo Duterte.
The Vice President tagged the allegations against her husband and her brother as “political attacks” saying that it came after she resigned as the DepEd Secretary and starts speaking up. She stressed that there are really a lot of political issues now.