Vice Pres. Sara Duterte Speaks on Rumors Surrounding OVP Budget for 2025
SARA DUTERTE – The VP reacted to the rumors that the Office of the Vice President (OVP) may be defunded in 2025 or just given P1 budget.
Undeniably, among the many budget proposals of the different offices and agencies of the government, the budget proposal of the Office of the Vice President or the OVP is one of those surrounded by a lot of issues. Aside from the questions on the budget proposal itself, Vice Pres. Duterte earned different opinions regarding her behavior during the deliberations of the budget.
The OVP budget proposal has been through the deliberations at the Senate and the House of Representatives. In each set deliberation, Vice Pres. Duterte had arguments with the lawmakers and members.
At the Senate deliberation of the 2025 budget proposal of the OVP, Vice Pres. Sara Duterte and Senator Risa Hontiveros had a heated exchange of statements. The Vice President accused the Senator of politicizing after asking about the P10 million in the budget proposal allotted for the distribution of the book authored by Duterte herself.
Vice Pres. Duterte also had a heated exchange of remarks with some House members during the budget deliberation at the House of Representatives. The incidents sparked different reactions from the people. The budget deliberation was moved to a different schedule.
However, following her absence at the resumption of the budget deliberation wherein the House members, in courtesy of the Vice President, waited for her for one hour. Duterte was called “bratinella to the max” for skipping the House deliberation.
Recently, Vice Pres. Sara Duterte reacted to the alleged talks or rumors regarding the budget for the Office of the Vice President in 2025. Based on a report on ABS-CBN News, Duterte claimed hearing the talks that the OVP may be defunded or just given P1 as budget for 2025.
The Vice President stressed that they at the OVP has a small office and operation so they can really work even without a budget. Previously, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said that the OVP’s budget proposal is P2 billion.
“Narinig din namin na posibleng Piso lang ang ibigay na budget sa Office of the Vice President... Kayang-kaya namin na magtrabaho kahit na walang budget,” Vice Pres. Duterte said based on the report.
According to the budget department, the 2025 budget proposal of the OVP does not include Confidential Funds. In 2023, Vice Pres. Duterte earned countless criticisms following the rapid spending of the CIFs. Her office’s CIFs were slashed in 2024 along with the removal of the CIFs of four other state offices.