Senator wants to increase OVP budget

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Joel Villanueva yesterday said he would support calls in the Senate to augment the approved P733.2-million budget of Vice President Sara Duterte.

Villanueva said the Office of the Vice President (OVP) “deserved more” after the House of Representatives slashed her proposed P2.037-billion budget by more than half or a P1.3-billion cut.

“I’m in that position to increase the budget somehow. We should not be looking at whoever is sitting there as the Vice President. We should be looking at the office and I feel like we need to put some more social funds that the Vice President can use,” Villanueva said in an ambush interview yesterday in Bulacan.

“I think it is unfair that the OVP’s proposed budget was slashed by more than half. At least a hundred million pesos is a decent enough amount to increase the budget,” he added.

Villanueva said he has talked to at least four senators who shared his position that the P1.3-billion budget cut was improper to give to the country’s second-highest official.

“We have to revisit again the OVP’s proposed budget in the National Expenditure Program, which was cut by more than half in the House of Representatives’ General Appropriations Bill. By the time we tackle the amendments on the budget, that’s the right time to discuss the possible increase,” Villanueva said.

The senator also took issue with the 200 OVP employees who may lose their jobs due to the budget cut.

“In the Senate, we are open to each other’s views and we are clear with and respect each other’s positions. But at the end of the day, it’s the vote of the majority that will prevail,” Villanueva said.

The Senate in plenary adopted the House approved P733.2-million OVP budget, but Senate finance committee chair Sen. Grace Poe said Duterte’s allies, Senators Ronald dela Rosa and Bong Go, can still move to increase the budget during the period of amendments.

Poe said the House budget cut caused the realignment of P600 million in the OVP’s social services to other relevant agencies.

Sen. Risa Hontiveros, a staunch Duterte critic, said she would not support the moves to augment the OVP budget, saying her predecessors were able to operate with the same level of allocation.