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

Vice President Leni Robredo has appealed for a higher budget for her office as she lamented that the P95-million slash in their allocation would affect their livelihood subsidies for poor families in the country.

“Iyong nabawas, mga P100 million, malaki iyong epekto niya kasi iyon iyong binibigay namin na livelihood subsidies para sa Angat Buhay areas,” Robredo said in an interview after the House appropriations panel approved the proposed P447.6-million budget of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) for 2019.

“Kapag inalis iyong for next year, babalik kami doon sa 2016 saka sa 2017 na entirely dependent kami on private sector’s support,” she added.

The proposed 2019 fund is P95 million lower than the P543-million allocation for this year.

READ: House panel okays P447M budget for OVP in 15 minutes

Despite this, Robredo said she does not want to speculate that the budget cut was a political move on the part of the Duterte administration, saying several other agencies also faced a decrease in their allocation for 2019.

“Ako, mahirap naman kasing mag-speculate kasi ang alam natin hindi lang naman iyong opisina namin iyong nabawasan. Marami ding mga ahensyang nabawasan,” she said.

The second-highest official of the land said her office deserves a higher budget, citing that they have a 95 percent utilization rate for 2017.

“Pero kahit anong dahilan, nag-a-appeal kaming madagdagan kasi kung titingnan naman iyong utilization namin, maayos. For 2017, 95 percent iyong utilization namin so wala naman talagang dahilan para hindi ipagkatiwala sa amin iyong budget,” Robredo said.

“Napakaliit noon—iyong buong budget ng opisina mas maliit pa sa budget ng isang distrito. Kaya iyong sa amin lang, mag-a-appeal pa rin,” she added.    /vvp