OVP budget passed in under 3 minutes; DOH, DoTr grilled for hours

As expected, deliberation for the 2026 Proposed Budget of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) was swiftly passed by Senate lawmakers on Thursday, but not for the Departments of Transportation and Health, as it passed through the needle's eye due to the intensive questioning from Senators.

The OVP’s proposed P889 million budget was nodded by Senate lawmakers in less than three minutes on Thursday, vesting the also swift approval of the proposed P27.3 billion budget of the Office of the President (OP) on Wednesday.

Senator Robinhood Padilla was the only lawmaker who spoke up, thanking his fellow Senators for restoring the OVP budget, which was earlier slashed by the House of Representatives to P733 million after she repeatedly snubbed the plenary deliberations for her office’s budget at the Lower House.

Several members of the media also raised their eyebrows after the OVP budget deliberation, after Vice President Sara Duterte, who agreed to have a press conference, suddenly walked out of the venue after standing at the podium and greeting the press with “Merry Christmas,” adding that she would answer questions next year.

“Bakit nya pa tayo inipon sa hall tapos hindi naman pala sasagot at lalabas agad? Terrible attitude,” a journo said in reaction to the actuation of the Vice President.

Tough questioning

If the OP and OVP both had a no-sweat budget hearing, things are different with the Department of Health and the Transportation Department after they were berated by several lawmakers, causing the hearing for the DOH budget to be stretched to the next day

Sen. Joel Villanueva first to hit the DOH over the alarming 11,656.32 percent spike in wasted healthcare products from 2020 to 2023.

Villanueva said in 2020, P95 million of healthcare products went to waste; P85.213 million in 2021; P7.4 billion in 2022; and by 2023, with a total amount of P11.186 billion wasted taxpayers’ money.

Villanueva also quizzed the DOH on how such losses can be prevented, stressing that the wasted money is public funds and essential medicines that should have been made available to Filipino citizens.

“About the historical data and figures that we mentioned a while ago, what measures are now being taken by the Department to prevent the wastage and expiration?” Villanueva asked.

Meanwhile, Senator Alan Peter Cayetano also berated the agency for repeatedly delivering vaccines that are close to expiration, warning that such failures jeopardize the health of the children and the elderly.

He stressed that other countries in the region, such as Cambodia and Laos, do not experience such chronic delays in vaccine delivery.

“Even if these flu vaccines come from Western countries, they could arrive here by July or August. But today is November 26, and many LGUs still have no flu vaccines. And when they do arrive, they expire on December 31,” he said.

DoTr issues

The fate is the same with the DoTr, after its sponsor for its P191.862-billion budget, Senator JV Ejercito, faced tough questions from his fellow Senators.

Sen. Raffy Tulfo urges the Land Transportation Office (LTO) to regulate the routes of e-bikes roaming around major thoroughfares in Metro Manila, citing safety concerns and the risk of accidents.

“I've received many complaints that they are now the kings of the road, which used to be the jeepneys, but now they say it's e-bikes. What programs does our LTO have to regulate the increasing number of e-bikes?”

According to Tulfo, he has nothing against e-bikes because they are a legitimate source of income for some Filipinos, but they become the cause of many accidents. E-bike drivers have no license and have no LTO registration or Third-Party Liability (TPL) insurance.

Senate President Vicente Sotto III has called for the strict enforcement of traffic rules and regulations to address the country’s worsening road safety situation.

Sotto cited a World Health Organization (WHO) report, which showed that road traffic injuries are the leading cause of death among Filipinos aged 15 to 29.

In 2023 alone, he said, road crashes claimed 13,125 Filipino lives. He said the number of road accidents in the Philippines was expected to increase in 2024.

In response, Sen. JV Ejercito, sponsor of the DOTr’s budget, said several safety measures were passed, such as the child safety laws and the Speed Limiters Act, which he said had significantly reduced accidents involving long-distance buses. Before its implementation, Ejercito explained, many buses operated without speed limiters and figured in frequent road mishaps.

Ejercito cited DOTr statistics, which showed that about 50 to 60 percent of road crashes involve motorcycle riders.

He said he will introduce a bill that would require mandatory rider education before anyone could purchase a motorcycle or obtain a motorcycle license.

“The DOTr and Land Transportation Office will require proper rider education before issuing a license that allows someone to operate a motorcycle,” Ejercito said.

Sotto agreed with Ejercito’s proposal and said this initiative should be incorporated into the Philippine Road Safety Action Plan for 2023–2028, reiterating the need for the Land Transportation Office (LTO) to tighten its licensing procedures.

Sen. Risa Hontiveros, for her part bats for additional funds for the Philippine Coast Guard to purchase the Unmanned Service Vehicles (USVs), also appealing to the Senate finance committee to find ways to grant the request of the PCG.

”As I mentioned earlier, I welcome the much-needed and deserving additional support for the PCG through the purchase of Multi-Response Vehicles (MRVs), aluminum boats, and unmanned service vehicles. I hope we can also find a way, even if not in its entirety, to provide some of this support starting this year and moving forward,” she added.

Broken down, the proposed P191.862-billion budget of the DoTr include P141.7 billion for the Office of the Secretary; P262.38 million for the Civil Aeronautics Board; Maritime Industry Authority, P1.48 billion; Office of the Transportation Cooperatives, P67.3 million; Office for Transportation Security, P1.16 billion; Philippine Coast Guard, P44.56 billion; Toll Regulatory Board, P78.65 million; Light Rail Transit Authority, 1.22 billion; Philippine National Railways, P1.35 billion and Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), P22 million. (RAFFY AYENG)