MANILA – The House of Representatives’ Committee on Appropriations has recommended a P1.29-billion slash in the proposed 2025 budget of the Office of the Vice President (OVP).
According to House panel’s Senior Vice Chair Rep. Stella Quimbo, the budget of Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio will be cut down to P733.19 million from the original proposal of P2.037 billion.
The P1.29 billion budget cut would be slashed from supplies (P200 million), personnel services of consultants (P92.4 million), financial assistance (P947.4 million), rent/lease expenses (P48 million), and utility expenses (P5 million).
Quimbo added that the slashed amounts are recommended to be allocated to the Department of Health’s Medical Assistance Program (P646.5 million) and the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (P646.5 million).
“The budget cut for the OVP was a unanimous committee decision made by 139 members,” Quimbo said in a press conference on Thursday morning.
The OVP budget cut came after Duterte-Carpio said her office was “ready to work even without a budget,” after she skipped the House hearing on its 2025 proposed funding last Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Cong. Alonto Adiong, the budget sponsor of the OVP in the House, said Duterte-Carpio’s fear that the House Appropriations committee will defund her office is unlikely to happen.
“That’s impossible. I, personally, would not support that kind of proposal,” Adiong said in an interview with Bilyonaryo News Channel’s Agenda program on Thursday.
Adiong also said there is no unfair treatment between the OVP’s budget deliberations and the Office of the President which breezed through the House panel.
“Aside from the mandate of Congress to really dig deeper into the usage of the funding, especially if there are reports from COA (Commission on Audit), naturally there’s going to be questions from the members,” Adiong said./PN
