House Speaks on Budget for Office of VP Sara Duterte Following Absence during Hearings
SARA DUTERTE – House Speaker Martin Romualdez claimed that the budget for the Office of the Vice President (OVP) is similar to the fund given to the office of Leni Robredo when she was the VP.
The House of Representatives has decided on the budget to give to the Office of the Vice President (OVP). The decision came after Duterte skipped several hearings set by the lower chamber.
Vice Pres. Duterte was asking for P2 billion as OVP budget in 2025. According to the Department of Budget and Management, the budget requested by Duterte’s office does not include Confidential Funds. To recall, the OVP spending of the Confidential Funds in 2022 was controversial.
However, although the OVP budget proposal no longer includes the CIFs, the budget proposal of the Office of the Vice President for 2025 is still surrounded by issues. Vice Pres. Sara Duterte was involved in heated arguments with the members of the Senate and House of Representatives during deliberations.
Senator Risa Hontiveros and Vice Pres. Duterte expressed dislike on each other’s behavior during the Senate deliberation. During the House of Representatives deliberations, the Vice President also had a spar with the House members when she was asked about the previous spending of her office.
The budget deliberation was rescheduled after a heated exchange between Duterte and ACT Teachers Party-List Representative France Castro. However, Vice Pres. Duterte was no show at the resumption of the budget deliberation.
The absence of the Vice President at the hearing triggered the disappointment of the House members. Duterte expressed leaving the fate of the OVP budget in the hands of the members of the lower chamber. She stressed that she has presented her stand on the issues surrounding the budget.
Aside from skipping the resumption of the budget deliberation, Duterte also ditched several hearings set by the House after it. There were rumors that the OVP will be defunded or given a zero budget.
Recently, the lower chamber of the Congress has decided to give P733 million to the office of Vice Pres. Sara Duterte. The amount is P1.2 billion lower than the proposed budget of the OVP. Based on a report on GMA News, House Speaker Martin Romualdez expressed that the said amount is similar to the budget granted to Leni Robredo’s office during her term as VP.
“Ang magiging budget para sa OVP ay P733 milyon na halos kapareho ng budget noong panahon ni Vice President Leni Robredo,” the House Speaker said.
Based on the report, Romualdez also stressed that the P733 million for the office of Duterte is inclusive of the P30 million which is meant to help the OVP on the effects of the inflation. According to the House Speaker, there are those who want zero budget for the OVP due to her absence in the hearings but he refused to defund the office.
“Naniniwala ako na mahalaga pa ring magkaroon ng sapat na budyet ang Office of the Vice President para magpatuloy sa paglilingkod sa ating mga kababayan,” Romualdez said.
Vice Pres. Duterte assured that the work of the OVP will continue regardless of the amount that will be given to them as budget for 2025. She accused Ako Bicol party-list Representative Zaldy Co and House speaker Martin Romualdez as allegedly the only people who control the budget.