VP Duterte: No idea why Robredo didn’t request for fair budget

MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte has no idea why her predecessor, former Vice President Leni Robredo, did not request a bigger budget for the Office of the Vice President (OVP).

In her speech before the House of Representatives committee on appropriations deliberated on the OVP’s proposed budget for 2025, Duterte said it would be a stretch to compare her office’s budget to that of Robredo’s.

“I shall now address issues that are germane to the use of public funds. It is my belief that it would be a stretch, if not absurd, to compare the budget of my immediate predecessor to the present budget proposal,” Duterte said on Tuesday.

“We do not have personal knowledge as to why she did not request for a fair budget for her projects,” she added.

Under the 2025 National Expenditures Program (NEP), Duterte’s OVP got a P2.037 billion allocation — higher than the 2024 NEP, which was at P1.885 billion, and slightly lower than the P2.259 billion in 2023.

On the other hand, OVP’s budget under Robredo — which was crafted under the time of Duterte’s father, then-President Rodrigo Duterte — saw several cuts, with NEP versions not breaching the P1 billion mark.

According to the Department of Budget and Management’s Budget of Expenditures and Sources of Financing for fiscal year 2023, the OVP under Robredo had an actual budget of P956.7 million in 2021.

It was slashed to P713.4 million under the 2022 NEP, prompting lawmakers to ask that it be increased to at least P1 billion.

For the 2023 NEP, which was crafted while Vice President Duterte is in office, the proposed allocation increased to P2.305 billion.

Robredo, several times while she was vice president, noted that a small budget would not hinder her office from fulfilling its mandate. 

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Robredo and the OVP partnered with the private sector to deliver key services — like free bus rides for frontline workers, hot meals, quarantine facilities, mobile testing centers, and a telemedicine platform which became an important part of triage.

There were instances, however, when Robredo hoped her office’s slashed budget would be restored.

Tensions flared during the hearing of the OVP’s 2025 budget, as lawmakers called out the incumbent Vice President’s insistence on not directly answering questions, particularly about confidential fund usage in the past fiscal years.

Duterte also had to be reminded several times to exercise decorum, with Marikina 2nd District Rep. Stella Quimbo, appropriations senior vice chairperson, calling her out for talking before she was even recognized.

At one point in the hearing, Duterte asked the committee chair — Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Elizaldy Co — to supervise the hearing instead of Quimbo.

The OVP was directed by the House panel to return on September 10, after a motion to defer the budget deliberations was approved on the grounds of Duterte’s allegedly evasive answers.