Burial, medical aid: VP Sara Duterte says Noli de Castro did it first

VP Sara Duterte —RICHARD A. REYES

Vice President Sara Duterte has tried to justify the existence of her assistance programs as not “duplications” of similar functions of other national government agencies, saying that she was just continuing what one of her predecessors had started.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday in Butuan City, Duterte said that the medical and burial assistance, among others, from the Office of the Vice President (OVP) began under former Vice President Noli de Castro, who served from 2004 to 2010 during the Arroyo administration.

“The people got used to the OVP having medical and burial assistance because those programs have been there since the time of Vice President Noli de Castro,” she explained.

“Therefore, if the people asked for assistance from us in the government, we can’t just turn them away and say ‘Hey, we apologize, you’re on your own now,’ we can’t just say that,” Duterte said.

De Castro, who was involved in public service work as a broadcaster, continued this as a senator and as the second-highest official in the country, providing social assistance and basic needs to the public.

The assistance came in the form of aid for medical, educational, burial, employment, transportation, livelihood, housing, and legal problems.

The number of aid recipients continued to increase and the coverage expanded to include antipoverty concerns, housing problems, and problems of overseas Filipino workers.

Part of mandate

In the budget for 2006, the OVP said the bulk of the increase in its budget proposal was for assistance to indigent patients in hospitals, livelihood programs, comprehensive integrated delivery of social service programs, death and funeral benefits of the victims of calamities and other forms of financial assistance.

Duterte noted that this was also part of her mandate as vice president under the 1987 Constitution. It was also part of her oath—which is “not to reject people asking for help.”

“In my oath-taking, you can clearly see ‘implement laws,’ and I am in the Executive along with the President. This means that I will protect and defend the Constitution. This also means that everything written [in] the Constitution must be implemented,” she said.

The OVP’s assistance to the public was not a duplication “because we are also a government agency that can’t just turn away people seeking assistance,” Duterte said.

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Lawmakers, particularly from the House of Representatives, have questioned some of the social programs of the OVP similar to those of some government agencies such as the Department of Health (DOH) and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

House reduction

This prompted the House of Representatives to reduce Duterte’s proposed P2.03-billion budget for 2025 by P1.3 billion. The funds were realigned to the DOH and the DSWD, leaving the OVP with a budget of only P733.198 million, similar to the budget annually received by her most recent predecessor, former Vice President Leni Robredo.

The Senate upheld the budget cuts after Sen. Grace Poe, chair of the Senate committee on finance, said the OVP had not responded to requests for documents that would answer the questions raised over its budget proposal.

Risa: P733M enough

Sen. Risa Hontiveros on Thursday said the P733 million was already adequate and there was no need to alter it.

“As of today, I would vote against adding to the OVP budget … unless there is really a super, super, super duper good reason that could still convince me,” the Senate deputy minority leader said during the Kapihan sa Senado forum.

“At a proper time, I will argue that it is sufficient. Other vice presidents in previous administrations have successfully operated with a similar budget level or even less as a matter of fact,” she added.

During the Senate plenary deliberations on the OVP’s proposed 2025 budget, senators approved its P733 million outlay, adopting the House version.

Promised by allies

However, Duterte secured a promise from her allies in the chamber, Senators Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa and Christopher “Bong” Go, to either give additional funding to the OVP or restore the massive cuts during the period of amendments.

Poe explained that the P733 million earmarked for the OVP was not yet final as senators may still propose to either increase or decrease it, subject to the body’s approval.

According to Hontiveros, she did not change the House version of the proposed funding for the OVP programs, which appear to be a “repetition” of existing programs of other agencies.

But Hontiveros said that one expense item that would be hard to justify was the P10 million for the distribution of copies of “Isang Kaibigan,” a children’s book authored by Duterte.

“I think it’s important to note that the P10 million for a self-authored book to be distributed is really hard to justify as appropriate,” she said.

Will just make do

At a Senate budget hearing in August, Duterte and Hontiveros engaged in a heated exchange over the P10 million allocation for the publication of the book after the latter questioned the propriety of the item tucked in the proposed 2025 budget of the country’s second-highest official.

Her query piqued Duterte, who accused Hontiveros of “politicizing” the OVP’s budget request.

Despite the massive budget cuts to the OVP next year, Duterte said they would make do with what they will receive, even with the possibility that 200 of her staff might lose their jobs.

“But that [200] is just an estimate and I don’t have the exact knowledge on how many would lose their jobs. But definitely, there would be a budget cut and it may include the allocated funds for our personnel’s salaries in case they will be out of work,” she said.

Hontiveros said she would ask for the details about the feared job losses to see “if it turns out to be a super duper good reason.”

She added that she did not want any government worker to lose employment. —WITH A REPORT FROM INQUIRER RESEARCH 

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