House committee cuts OVP budget for 2025

By Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio, Reporter

A HOUSE of Representatives committee has slashed the Vice President’s proposed budget for next year by 64%, citing redundant funds that are already covered by other agencies.

Members of the House appropriations committee agreed to cut Vice-President Sara Duterte-Carpio’s budget by P1.29 billion to P733 million, Marikina Rep. Stella Luz A. Quimbo, a senior vice chairperson of the body, told a news briefing on Thursday.

Congressmen had recommended that the cut be transferred to the Social Welfare and Health departments, she said.

The cut comes after Ms. Carpio snubbed the budget hearing for her office, as she accused congressmen of using the venue to revive old issues against her including her office’s P125-million confidential funds in 2022.

The budget cut would be split between the Social Welfare and Health departments, Ms. Quimbo said.

The OVP did not immediately reply to an e-mail seeking comment.

“While the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and Department of Budget and Management proposed a budget of P2.03 billion for the OVP, the committee on appropriations recommended P733.19 million,” she said. “This means there is a cut of P1.29 billion.”

“There are redundant social programs that are being implemented [by the OVP] even though similar programs already exist within National Government agencies, particularly the Department of Social Welfare and Development and Department of Health,” the lawmaker said.

“It is more efficient to implement these programs directly through these agencies.”

Ms. Carpio failed to attend her office’s budget hearing at the House earlier this week. In August, she declined to answer questions from the committee about her office’s spending plan.

“The lack of information… had the biggest impact,” Ms. Quimbo said in Filipino, adding that Ms. Carpio’s refusal to answer their questions and subsequent absence pushed lawmakers to cut her budget.

“The budget is an informed decision,” she added.

Ms. Duterte said in a recorded interview released on Wednesday she does not mind not having a budget for 2025. “We are ready. I am ready at the Office of the Vice President to work even without a budget.”

Ms. Quimbo said the committee recommendation to cut her budget was not yet final, adding that they are open to amending it once the budget enters plenary debates.

The proposed P6.352-trillion national budget for next year will be taken up in plenary from Sept. 16 to 25, the lawmaker said.

The House committee on appropriations “did the right thing” in cutting the OVP budget given the redundancies, Zy-za Nadine M. Suzara, an independent budget analyst and lead convener of the People’s Budget Coalition, said in a Viber Message.

“It will not significantly impact the ability of the OVP in performing its mandate,” she said. “The programs they are implementing are just duplications of projects that agencies have the mandates to implement.”

Ms. Suzara said the OVP’s social projects are not “strategic, high-impact and well-targeted,” citing it’s mostly used to fuel her office’s patronage politics.