VP Sara's absence stalls OVP budget debate
MANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives on Monday, September 23, deferred the plenary debate on the Office of the Vice President’s (OVP) proposed 2025 budget due to the agency’s absence, rescheduling it for today, September 24.
At a press conference on Monday, Minority Leader Rep. Marcelino Libanan (4Ps Party) said that the plenary debate for the OVP’s budget was scheduled at 10 a.m.
While waiting for any authorized representative from the agency, the lower chamber proceeded with the budget of other agencies.
However, nearly 17 hours have passed since plenary debates began at 10 a.m. the day before and no authorized representative from the OVP returned to the session hall.
Lawmakers then decided to postpone the agency’s budget deliberation to Tuesday, which will also include the plenary debate on the Office of the President’s budget.
OVP staff came, but no authorization letter
Before the lower chamber suspended the plenary debates at 3 a.m. on Tuesday, a deputy majority leader said that the head of the OVP’s legal office, along with two others, arrived at the session hall before 10 a.m. on Monday. However, they did not have a letter authorizing them to represent the agency.
The only letter the House of Representatives received on Monday morning was one written on September 11. It was addressed to the OVP’s budget sponsor, Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong (Lanao del Sur, 1st District), who requested to meet with Duterte before the plenary debates.
However, the lawmaker said that the meeting also did not happen.
“The OVP leaves the deliberation of our budget proposal in the plenary entirely to the pleasure of the House of Representatives,” the letter read.
This is the same reasoning Duterte has reiterated to House lawmakers during the two previous budget hearings of the appropriations committee and at a House inquiry on a privilege speech on the OVP’s alleged misuse of funds.
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Rep. Raoul Manuel (Kabataan Partylist) recounted at the plenary the vice president’s “consistent” behavior in evading lawmakers’ questions on how the budget will be used, comparing it to a child asking parents for money without explaining its purpose.
“‘Pag ang bata nanghingi ng pera sa magulang para sa school project or school fee, dapat mag-explain. Hindi binibigyan ‘pag hindi nagpapaliwanag. ‘Pag may natanggap, dapat may resibo para patunayan paano gumastos. Obligasyon magpaliwanag,” he said.
(When a child asks their parents for money for a school project or school fees, they have to explain. They won’t be given money if they don’t explain. If they receive any, there should be a receipt to prove how the money was spent. It’s an obligation to explain.)
Budget cuts
On September 11, the House appropriations committee proposed to reduce the OVP's requested P2.026 billion budget for new appropriations to P733 million, amounting to a whopping P1.293 billion budget cut to the agency’s socioeconomic program.
House lawmakers decided to reduce the OVP’s budget to 2022 levels following the Commission on Audit’s findings that P73 million of the agency’s P125-million confidential fund had been disallowed due to inappropriate spending.
State auditors also confirmed to lawmakers that around P65 million of the OVP’s funds used to distribute welfare goods lacked proper documentation in 2023.
Realigned budget. This prompted the appropriations committee to propose rechanneling about half of the P1.293 billion to the Department of Health (DOH) and the other half to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
If the amended budget is approved, the DOH will receive P646.580 million for medical assistance to indigent and financially incapacitated patients (MAIP), while P646.579 million will be allocated to the DSWD’s protective social welfare program.
The House of Representatives aims to approve the 2025 General Appropriations Bill on third and final reading by Wednesday, September 25.
However, it remains uncertain whether they will stay on schedule and how lawmakers will handle the OVP’s budget if no authorized representative is present.
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