Vice Pres. Sara Duterte Says OVP Assistance Requests Rejected by Other Gov’t Agencies
OVP – The Office of the Vice President claimed that its request for aid for a group of victims of the African Swine Fever (ASF) was allegedly rejected by the Department of Social Weldare and Development (DSWD).
The recent deliberation of the budget proposal of the Office of the Vice President sparked several headlines. Vice Pres. Sara Duterte got involved in a spar with the Senate and House members during the budget deliberations.
The office of Vice Pres. Sara Duterte asked for a P2 billion budget for 2025 according to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM). According to the budget department, the budget proposal does not include confidential funds.
During the deliberation of the 2025 budget proposal in the Senate, Vice Pres. Sara Duterte and Senator Risa Hontiveros got involved in a heated exchange over Duterte’s book. The Senator also questioned the similarity between the assistance programs of the OVP and those that were offered by the other government agencies.
According to Vice Pres. Duterte, there are requests and referrals from her office that were not allegedly taken by the other government agencies so the OVP came up with their own assistance programs. Recently, the office of the Vice President made a strong claim against the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
Based on a report on ABS-CBN News, Office of the Vice President Director for Operations Norman Baloro claimed that there was allegedly a request from the OVP rejected by the DSWD. He claimed that it was for a group of people affected by the African Swine Fever or ASF.
In a statement, Baloro said that the social welfare department said they do not release a “mass payout”. However, the OVP further claimed that they are allegedly able to do a mass payout in other areas and with other politicians.
“The request was denied because the DSWD claimed that they cannot do ‘mass payout,’ and yet they are able to do it in other areas, together with other politicians,” the Director for Operations of Duterte’s office said.
Based on the report, OVP Director for Operations Norman Baloro also claimed that some of the DSWD regional offices including those in Bohol, Negros, Siquijor, and Cebu have yet to address the referrals of the OVP satellite services.
“There is no clear explanation provided by the DSWD to the OVP referred clients from the Satellite Offices on the delay or inaction on the requests,” Bolero expressed.
The Office of the Vice President expressed a call for the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) for an immediate response in fulfilling the gaps on the obligation of the government to help every Filipino.