OVP seeks P733-M 2026 budget

The Office of the Vice President (OVP) is seeking a P733-million budget for fiscal year 2026, which is the same amount approved for the agency this year, Vice President Sara Duterte disclosed on Monday.

“For the 2026 budget, we submitted a proposal of P733 million. It’s not far from the approximately P700 million given last year for the Office of the Vice President. It’s not far from the 2025 budget,” Duterte said in a press briefing in Davao City.

Duterte said they did not ask for a higher budget allocation for her office as she is no longer allied with the Marcos administration.

“I expect that the OVP will not be granted a budget because we are not allies of the administration — and we already saw that last year. Of course, if you don’t conform, if you’re not an ally, you won’t be given funds for your office’s projects,” she said.

“That’s why I decided that whatever budget was given this year, that’s what we’ll ask for again. We only added a little for education,” the Vice President added.

She said she did not ask for a larger budget because she does not want to see members of her office being embarrassed by lawmakers during the budget deliberations.

“That’s also the budget for next year because I don’t want the personnel of the Office of the Vice President to be humiliated—especially when they appear before the House of Representatives or the Senate and face our members of Congress,” she said.

Duterte said her office remains committed to delivering “dynamic” and “responsive” public service despite facing a significant P1.4-billion budget cut under the 2025 General Appropriations Act.

“Despite financial limitations, obstacles, and challenges, we will continue to strengthen and expand partnerships aimed at building a nation with a common goal—to help and support, especially the poor and the needy,” she said.

Duterte emphasized that the OVP’s limited resources has not weakened its resolve to serve the people.

“Running programs that aim to provide solutions to some of the country’s pressing problems has become more challenging. But criticism and systematic attacks against the OVP have not been enough to break us, stop us, or make us fail,” she said.