Vice President Leni Robredo has requested from Congress a P703-million budget for her office in 2022, which is significantly lower than the P900-million allocation this year.
Of this figure, P558.8 million will go to maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE), P139.6 million for personnel services, and P3.7 million for capital outlays, according to the budget proposal posted on the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) website.
"For 2022, the total proposed budget by OVP was P703.56 million vis-a-vis the DBM recommended amount of P702.04 million," Office of the Vice President (OVP) Undersecretary Philip Dy told the Manila Bulletin.
The amounts exclude the government share in retirement and life insurance premium, he added.
The P5.024-trillion proposed National Expenditure Program (NEP) for 2022, equivalent to 22.8 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), has been transmitted to Congress on Monday, August 23.
The 2022 budget proposal is 11.5 percent higher than this year’s P4.5-trillion budget. This will be highest ever to be approved in the country’s history.
For the OVP, the proposed NEP laid down its organizational outcome, which is “enhanced strategic partnership and advocacy in good governance.”
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The maintenance expenses of Robredo’s office for next year include financial assistance and subsidy worth P357.6 million, professional services worth P41.8 million, and representation worth P29.6 million.
Also included are travel funds (P25.3 million), professional services (P41.8 million), and supplies and materials (P45.8 million), among others.
Its performance indicators are the number of established or strengthened strategic partnership, implemented projects with partners, and the “requests acted upon within standard processing time.”
Last year, the OVP initially proposed a budget of P723.39 million, but the DBM recommended only P679.74 million—a cut from the P708 million that the office received in 2020.
READ: Senators move to restore OVP’s slashed 2021 proposed budget
Robredo’s office later got a P229-million increase, as reflected in the 2021 General Appropriations Bill (GAB) ratified by Congress, placing her official budget this year at P900 million.