Bicam OKs Proposed Amount for VP Sara Duterte Office’s Budget in NEP
SARA DUTERTE OFFICE BUDGET – The bicameral conference committee approved the P889.2 million budget for the Vice President’s office.
Amid the admission of Senate Finance Committee chairman Sherwin Gatchalian that the budget process is not on schedule now, Malacañang claimed that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is confident that the budget will be passed before the year ends. Palace press officer undersecretary Claire Castro stressed that even the President does not want a reenacted budget.
According to Castro, several projects of the government may not be pushed through with a reenacted budget. Meanwhile, Gatchalian previously claimed that the passing of the budget may still make it.
The issues with regards to the budget process of the bicameral conference committee include the request of the Department of Public Works and Highways. DPWH chief Vince Dizon asked the bicam to restore P45 billion of the budget cut from the agency’s initial proposed fund.
According to Dizon, the said amount is necessary for the implementation of around 10,000 projects of the DPWH. He cited the alleged changes in the Construction Materials Price Data (CMPD as the reason behind the request.
The bicam postponed its scheduled session last Monday amid the issue on the request of the DPWH. Presidential sister and Senator Imee Marcos stressed that the problem is allegedly DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon’s change of script.
Recently, the bicameral conference committee discussed the budget for the office of Vice Pres. Sara Duterte in 2026. Under the National Expenditure Program (NEP), the proposed fund for the OVP was P889.2 million.
The House of Representatives previously punished Vice Pres. Sara Duterte for not attending the budget deliberations. The chamber slashed the OVP’s proposed budget by P156 million for snubbing the hearings. Her non-attendance came after the House allegedly did not take her challenge to urge Pres. Bongbong Marcos to also attend the budget deliberations of his office.
During the upper chamber’s budget deliberation of the proposed fund of the OVP, the Senate swiftly approved the P889 million proposed budget of the office of Vice Pres. Sara Duterte in less than five (5) minutes.
Recently, the bicam approved the P889.2 million budget for the office of Vice Pres. Sara Duterte based on a report on GMA News. Previously, during a budget deliberation, Senator Jinggoy Estrada even proposed to give all the budget insertions of the senators to Duterte’s office.