Sen. Grace Poe, chairperson of the Committee on Finance, during one of the Senate deliberations. FILE PHOTO / Senate Public Relations and Information Bureau
MANILA, Philippines — The Office of the Vice President (OVP) needs a lot of explaining to do if it wants a budget hike for 2025 according to Sen. Grace Poe.
Speaking to reporters in a press conference on Wednesday, Poe — head of the Senate’s panel on finance – said the OVP needs to justify in detail why it would need an additional budget for next year should they deem the P733 million allocation allotted by both chambers of Congress as insufficient.
READ: No budget hike appeal from OVP so Senate keeps P733-M allocation
Poe likewise denied speculations that the upper chamber opted not to increase the OVP’s budget due to Vice President Sara Duterte’s “kill order” against President Bongbong Marcos.
“If you can recall, our committee report came out even before this conflict. It’s just because they have yet to issue a formal request to increase and as I’ve seen, they can still manage to comply with their needs for social economic projects,” Poe told reporters in a mix of Filipino and English.
“Now, if that’s insufficient, we’re just waiting for their formal request, but they have yet to submit one. Maybe they are going through something or they have yet to file formally or informally. Maybe they have mentioned it to you, but for us, we need it to be official,” she added in Filipino.
The Senate on Tuesday approved the proposed P6.352 trillion national budget for next year. Tucked within this budget is the OVP’s funding for 2025 which stands at P733 million — the same as approved by the House of Representatives in its 2025 General Appropriations Bill.
To recall, the OVP’s proposed budget was initially at P2.037. It was reduced by P1.293159 billion in the lower chamber.
READ: Senate retains OVP’s proposed P733-M budget
Meanwhile, Poe said she was able to explain to her fellow senators why the OVP would be able to function well with only P733 million. She, however, repeatedly noted that if the agency thinks the allocation is insufficient, they can still appeal — but only if they provide a detailed breakdown of expenses.
“If that’s insufficient, they need to justify how it wouldn’t repeat or double with existing programs,” said Poe in Filipino.
“As I’ve said, while deciding the budget, it’s always a duty and privilege to do or to allocate the very limited resources of our country. So we’ll really check that to the true needs of the people in terms of health, education, and security,” she added in a mix of Filipino and English.