Like Office of the President hearings, House panel approves OVP's budget in 7 minutes
MANILA, Philippines — In a replay of the Office of the President's budget briefing, the House appropriations panel approved the proposed 2.37 billion budget of the Office of the Vice President in under ten minutes without any questions or contentions.
Minority Leader Marcelino Libanan moved to terminate the budget hearings immediately after a short speech by Rep. Elizaldy Co (Ako Bicol Party-list), who chairs the committee.
"As a courtesy of the whole House of Representatives to extend to the Office of the Vice President, I move that we terminate the budget briefing of the Office of the Vice President," he said.
Co claimed that Vice President Sara Duterte's "accomplishments so far exceed what could reasonably be expected after 100 days in office." He said the bulk of the budget would go to "good governance projects" and other social services spearheaded by the OVP.
The proposed budget of the OVP is good for a 220% increase from the office’s 2022 budget of P702 million when it was still under former Vice President Leni Robredo.
Other items with significant increases include travelling expenses (from P25.3 million to P59.5 million), supplies and materials expenses (from P45.8 million to P262.99 million), professional services (from P41.78 million to P193.95 million), representation expenses (from P29.57 million to P79.31 million) and rent or lease expenses (from P18 million to P32.48 million).
"The OVP is no longer just the passive office as originally envisioned but [by] necessity must actively engage with the Filipino people," he said.
The hearing was attended by House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, Senior Deputy Majority Leader Ferdinand Alexander Marcos and Senior Deputy Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who brokered the winning UniTeam tandem of Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Sara Duterte ahead of the 2022 elections.
The OVP's budget now moves to the plenary debates on the eventual General Appropriations Bill for another round of deliberations where it can still be questioned by lawmakers.
Libanan said that members of the progressive Makabayan bloc would propound questions on the proposed budget later on.
The entire livestream lasted 13 minutes. No lawmaker questioned the P500-million confidential fund under the OVP's budget.
— with a report from The STAR/Janvic Mateo
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