House panel okays P447M budget for OVP in 15 minutes

House of Representatives on Monday. PHOTO BY EARVIN PERIAS

Without any question or objection, the House appropriations committee approved in less than 15 minutes the proposed P447.6-million budget of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) for 2019.

The proposed budget is P95 million lower than the P543-million allocation for this year. It is also a stark difference from the proposed P6.77-billion 2019 budget of the Office of the President (OP).

READ: OP seeks P6.8-B budget for 2019; OVP’S budget cut

OP’s proposed budget is P742 million or 12.3 percent higher than the P6.03-billion allocation it got this year.

The House panel earlier approved OP’s budget in less than 10 minutes without any objections or questions. /cbb

READ: House OKs P6.7B Office of the President budget for 2019 in less than 10 mins

In an interview after the budget briefing, Robredo admitted that the huge budget cut would affect her office’s livelihood subsidies to poor families.

READ: P95-M slash in OVP budget will affect livelihood subsidies for poor — VP Robredo

“We would like to make this appeal, Mr. Chair, na sana po kahit ibalik lang ‘yung dati, ‘yung nabawas [hoping that they would restore it to the original],” Robredo said.

“It’s not for operations, but it’s really for our livelihood assistance. It’s really difficult if we’re entirely dependent on private sector support,” she added.

Panel chair, Rep. Karlo Nograles vowed to look for solutions for this problem.

“Most of the departments also experienced the same budget cuts which is why they are trying to resolve things within their means. ‘Wag kayong mag-alala. Hanapan natin ng paraan itong problema na ito (Don’t worry, we will look for a solution to this problem),” Nograles told Robredo. /cbb, je

RELATED STORIES:

Diokno agreed to budget compromise, says Andaya

House eyes passage of 2019 national budget by Oct. 12