Despite cuts, OVP still has P600M for aid programs

‘AYUDA’ WORK GOES ON Amid the new controversies hounding its head, the Office of the Vice President (OVP) got busy preparing relief goods for victims of the massive fire that destroyed parts of the coastal slum community of Isla Puting Bato in Manila on Nov. 24. Photo released by the OVP through its Facebook page on Wednesday.

MANILA, Philippines — The Office of the Vice President (OVP) would still have P600 million to fund its social services programs next year, Sen. Grace Poe said on Wednesday.

The chair of the Senate finance committee who defended the P6.352 trillion national budget for 2025 maintained that Vice President Sara Duterte’s latest rant that included a threat to kill President Marcos did not affect their decision to stand by the House of Representatives’ move to reduce the OVP’s outlay by P1.3 billion.

“We are looking at the mandate and the office, not the personality,” Poe said at a media briefing.

“We also have to look at the competence (and) the output (of the state agency). That’s why we also look at their (budget) utilization and disbursement rate,” she added.

From the original proposal of P2.03 billion, the House brought down the yearly funding of Duterte’s office to about P733 million, slightly higher than former Vice President Leni Robredo’s budget in 2022.

Identified social programs

With 18 affirmative votes and one abstention, the senators upheld the decision of their House counterparts when they approved on second and third readings House Bill No. 10800, or the proposed 2025 General Appropriations Act, on Tuesday.

According to Poe, she and her colleagues made sure that the OVP would have sufficient funds for its social protection services, such as burial assistance, medical aid, and “libreng sakay” (free rides) program for commuters.

Photo released by the OVP through its Facebook page

In fact, she said the OVP had submitted the list of these programs that were allocated a total of P600 million.

However, Duterte and his subordinates did not submit any official request seeking to restore the OVP’s original spending plan.

“They had the chance during the committee hearing to provide us the justification to increase their budget, but there was no formal request from the OVP,” Poe pointed out.

She said they also found that some items in the OVP’s expenditure plan were just a duplication of the existing programs of other state agencies, particularly the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

As to the equally controversial Ayuda para sa Kapos ang Kita Program (Akap), which the House leadership had inserted in the 2025 budget proposal, Poe said the senators deemed it better to transfer the P39-billion allotment for the item to the senior citizens’ retirement pension fund, college assistance program, child care assistance, and livelihood programs for farmers and fishermen.

Call for transparency

Nonetheless, Poe said Duterte may still ask lawmakers to keep her office’s spending program intact during the bicameral conference committee hearings, which will start on Thursday, by submitting a letter signifying the OVP’s request to restore its budget.

But Sen. Ronald dela Rosa, one of Duterte’s loyal allies in the Senate, conceded that it was already impossible for them to bring back the cut in the OVP’s budget.

As Congress finalizes the 2025 budget, various groups on Wednesday urged lawmakers to be “transparent” in its proceedings in order to avoid any unprogrammed funds that may be inserted by lawmakers as part of their “pork barrel.”

“Our call is, given that there will be important discussions during the bicameral conference committee, to open these (deliberations) to the public,” said former Bayan Muna Rep. and chair of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) Teddy Casiño.

Casiño said at a press conference that transparency is necessary “in order to avoid what happened before” wherein special provisions were added to the budget during the committee hearing.

“For example, the transfer of PhilHealth (Philippine Health Insurance Corp.) funds to the unprogrammed allocations,” he recalled.

“The process needs to be open to the public in order for us to stop any attempt to bloat unprogrammed funds which congressmen and senators will use as pork barrel,” Casiño said. —with a report from Gillian Villanueva