Vice Pres. Sara Duterte Speaks on P733 Million Budget for OVP in 2025
SARA DUTERTE – The Vice President claimed that around 200 staff of the OVP may lose their job if the office will only be given P733 million budget for 2025.
The budget proposal of the Office of the Vice President became a trending topic on social media after heated arguments took place during its deliberation in the Senate and in the House of Representatives. Vice Pres. Duterte had heated exchange of arguments with some House members and Senator Risa Hontiveros in the upper chamber.
The Office of the Vice President (OVP) is asking for a P2 billion budget for 2025. According to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), Duterte’s office has not included Confidential Funds in the budget proposal.
However, after several instances of Duterte skipping the invitation of the House to defend her office’s budget proposal for 2025, the lower chamber decided to make an almost P1.3 billion cut from the fund requested by Vice Pres. Sara Duterte’s office for next year. The said slice is set to be re-allocated to the Department of Health (DOH) and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
The Senate has invited Duterte to explain and defend the proposed budget of her office but she allegedly did not submit the documents that can support the OVP budget proposal. Senator Grace Poe confirmed that the Senate panel decided to adopt the P733 million House budget for Duterte’s office.
Previously, Vice Pres. Sara Duterte stressed that her office can operate regardless of the budget that will be given to them. She stressed that the OVP is only a small office. In a letter to the House, she said that she has already laid her side on the issues surrounding the budget proposal of her office and she leaves the decision to the lawmakers.
However, amid the P733 million budget appropriated by the House of Representatives for the Office of the Vice President (OVP) in 2025 and the Senate adopting the House appropriation, Vice Pres. Sara Duterte said that the amount may result to the possibility that around 200 staff of the OVP will lose their job.
Currently, Vice Pres. Sara Duterte is urged to account the P112.5 million Confidential Funds of DepEd which remains controversial. She resigned from being the education secretary last June.