Sen. Grace Poe Senate PRIB file photo / Bibo Nueva Espaٌña
MANILA, Philippines – The Senate has decided to retain the P733-million budget for the Office of the Vice President (OVP) while deleting the allocation for the controversial Ayuda sa Kapos ang Kita (AKAP) program.
Voting 18-0 with one abstention, the Senate on Tuesday approved on third and final reading the proposed P6.352-trillion national budget for 2025.
“The budgets of OVP and AKAP will be determined during (the) bicam,” Senator Grace Poe, head of the Senate committee on finance said in a Viber message, shortly after the voting.
“For now, OVP is at GAB level while AKAP is restored to the NEP (National Expenditure Program) level. We need to consult our House counterparts on these items,” Poe further explained.
The final version of the Senate retained the House of Representatives’ approved P733 million funding for the OVP, down from Malacanang’s original proposal of P2.03 billion.
The P39 billion House’s proposal for AKAP, on the other hand, was deleted by the Senate.
The NEP or Malacanang’s original proposal did not provide funding for AKAP.
Only Senate Minority Leader Aqulino “Koko” Pimentel III abstained from voting.
Aside from Poe, those who voted to approve the budget are Senate President Chiz Escudero, Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada, Majority Leader Francis Tolentino, Sens. Pia Cayetano, Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa, JV Ejercito, Christopher “Bong” Go, Lito Lapid, Loren Legarda, Robin Padilla, Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr., Raffy Tulfo, Joel Villanueva, Cynthia Villar, Mark Villar, and Juan Miguel Zubiri.
Dela Rosa, Go and Marcos are known allies of Vice President Sara Duterte.
Sen. Risa Hontiveros was the lone opposition member who voted to approve the budget.
Only Senate Minority Leader Aqulino “Koko” Pimentel III abstained from voting.