2025 Budget Proposal of OVP Includes Fund for Distribution of VP Sara Duterte’s Book
OVP – The Office of the Vice President asserted the purpose of the book authored by Vice Pres. Sara Duterte amid the criticisms.
The Senate finance committee recently held an inquiry on the 2025 proposed budget of the Office of the Vice President. Vice Pres. Sara Duterte who requested a Php 2 billion budget for her office in 2025 attended the hearing set by the upper chamber.
Previously, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) revealed that the 2025 budget proposal of the Office of the Vice President does not include Confidential Funds. The OVP has a history of being controversial due to the questioned spending of its CIFs.
During the Senate finance committee’s hearing on the proposed budget of the Office of the Vice President, Senator Risa Hontiveros and Vice Pres. Sara Duterte had a heated exchange of remarks. It was after the Senator pointed out that there are assistance programs of the OVP which are similar to the assistance programs offered by the other state entities.
Hontiveros expressed that she will make a motion to re-allocate the assistance projects funds to the relevant agencies. The Senator also asked about the Php 10 million allocated in the fund proposal for the distribution of the book authored by Vice Pres. Sara Duterte.
However, the Vice President did not answer the question. She accused the Senator of politicizing citing that the book has her name and it will be given to learners with parents who can vote. The Senator asserted that they are talking about the budget and it is not about the Vice President.
Amid the criciticisms on the P10 million budget proposed for the distribution of VP Sara Duterte’s book entitled Isang Kaibigan, the OVP asserted the purpose of the said book. Based on a report on ABS-CBN News, Office of the Vice President spokesperson Attorney Michael Wesley Poa asserted that the purpose of the book is to teach the learners to read.
“The very purpose of the book is reading… We need to improve ‘yung reading ng learners,” Poa said.
The OVP Spokesman stressed that the distribution of the book has a good intention and he believes that when it comes to the budget, there is a bigger discourse on it. Based on the report, he also stressed that it was the learning material used by the Vice President in her storytelling when she visited schools back when she was still the secretary of the Department of Education.
Vice Pres. Sara Duterte resigned as DepEd secretary more than a month ago. Initially, according to her, it was out of compassion for the teachers and the students. The Vice President, later on, admitted that there are personal and work reasons behind her decision to leave the helm of the education department as well as President Bongbong Marcos’ cabinet.