Frugal VP presents lower budget for 2017

Vice President Leni Robredo presents budget proposal to Senate finance committee. TARRA QUISMUNDO/INQUIRER

MANILA, Philippines — Seemingly fitting with her anti-poverty advocacy, Vice President Leni Robredo presented Wednesday morning a smaller budget for her office for next year, a rare downtrend in agency budget proposals that usually increase annually.

Robredo presented before the Senate committee on finance the Office of the Vice President’s P428.618-milliion proposed budget for 2017, an amount 14.28 percent lower than the current funding she had inherited from former Vice President Jejomar Binay.

The 2016 budget, crafted by the previous administration, is roughly P500 million, said Robredo.

She said the OVP’s needed funding decreased mainly because of the transfer from the Coconut Palace in Pasay City to the Quezon City Reception House, a smaller property that she says consumes less water and power.

“One reason [for the decline] is that our MOOE (maintenance and other operating expenses) decreased first of all because of our transfer. We’re now saving at least P200,000 a month when we transferred from Coco Palace to Quezon City,” Robredo told the committee chaired by Sen. Loren Legarda.

Funding for the MOOE makes up 83 percent of the OVP’s proposed budget. The rest cover personnel services (P61 million) and capital outlay (P10 million).

Because the OVP “transferred to a much smaller office,” the utility costs in Quezon City is 48 percent lower than in the Coconut Palace, Robredo said.

She said traveling expenses will also be lower by 38 percent, from P59.7 million to P37.2 million. Robredo said she would be “traveling with a very lean staff” in her official outings.

Robredo, a former Camarines Sur Representative, had decided to transfer to the 5,000-sqm property in Quezon City saying the Coconut Palace was “too ostentatious” for a Vice President.

READ: Robredo to hold office at QC Reception House

The New Manila compound, which housed the controversial “Boracay Mansion” allegedly owned by former President and now Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada, is a property of the Quezon City government built as a reception house for dignitaries.

The OVP used to pay P484,000 to the Government Service Insurance System a month for leasing the Coconut Palace during Binay’s time. CDG