House panel recommends P1.2-B cut to OVP budget

Vice President Sara Duterte's office is poised to receive merely P733.198 million after the House Committee on Appropriations recommended a slash of P1.2 billion from its initial budget request of P2.037 billion for fiscal year 2025.

In a briefing on Thursday, Marikina Rep. Stella Quimbo, panel senior vice chairperson, announced that the committee reached a "unanimous decision" to reduce the Office of the Vice President's (OVP) funding intended for "overextended offices" and other social programs, which are merely duplicates of the initiatives of other state agencies. 

The budget cut will be realigned to the Department of Health's (DoH) Medical Assistance to Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients (MAIFIP) and the Department of Social Welfare and Development's (DSWD) Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS), which would receive P646.58 million and P646.58 million, respectively.  

The budget for the two programs will be drawn from the OVP's financial assistance (P947.4 million), supplies (P200 million), professional services (P92.4 million), lease expenses (P48.3 million), and utilities (P5 million).

Quimbo disclosed that the committee decided to curtail the OVP's current budget to a level similar to 2022, when Vice President Leni Robredo was only allotted P712 million.

In 2023, the OVP spent a total of P53 million on the lease of its 10 satellite offices and two extension offices.

"It seems like there are too many offices. Why? Whereas the previous vice presidents did not have those nationwide offices," Quimbo lamented.

"Why are there so many social programs being implemented that seem redundant? Why does it have its own medical assistance program when we have MAIFIP in DoH? Why does it have its own funeral assistance when we have AICS in DSWD?"

Quimbo, however, clarified the budget reduction is not yet final and is still subject to the approval of the House plenary. Floor debates will begin on Monday.

"This is not yet the final approval of Congress. This is just a recommendation of the Committee on Appropriations for the plenary. And last night, the committee report, which contained the recommendation of a reduced budget for the OVP, was already approved on second reading," Quimbo told reporters. 

"We are not perfect. It's a recommended amount. We are still open to debate and discussion. So if there is any input that we need to know and they have an appeal to us, such as increasing [the budget] for whatever reason. We are very willing to listen to all of those inputs," the economist-lawmaker added.

The House of Representatives and the Senate will meet in a bicameral committee to iron out the diverging provisions of their respective General Appropriations Bill (GAB). Once reconciled, the GAB would be submitted to Malacanang for the signature of the President, who has the authority to veto the same. 

The realignment of funds follows Duterte's defiance to justify how she spent her P125 million in confidential funds in 2022—of which P73.287 was disallowed by the Commission on Audit—and skipped the second round of the budget deliberation on Tuesday.

Prior to Qiumbo's announcement, Ako Bicol Partylist Rep. Elizaldy Co, the committee chairperson, had already divulged that he would recommend that the fund requested by Duterte for social services be transferred to the DSWD and  Department of Education (DepEd), citing her "poor track record" in handling public resources.

Earlier this week, Duterte accused Co and House Speaker Martin Romualdez of "meddling" with the DepEd's budget during her tenure as its secretary. 

Co, however, retorted to Duterte's allegation, claiming it was made to "divert" the issue from her need to explain the alleged irregularities in the management of both funds of the OVP and DepEd, which she headed for nearly two years.