VP Duterte thanks Senate panel after approval of OVP's P2.36B budget
By Raymund Antonio and Raymund Antonio
Vice President Sara Duterte thanked a Senate panel for approving the Office of the Vice President’s (OVP) ₱2.36-billion proposed budget for 2024, including the controversial ₱500 million for confidential funds, even as opposition senators tried to question her.
Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte at the Senate budget hearing on Monday, Sept. 4, 2023. (Ali Vicoy / MANILA BULLETIN)
In a statement, the official expressed gratitude “to the leadership of the Senate Committee on Finance and its members” for supporting the OVP’s proposed budget in 2024.
She said that the budget would allow her office to continue providing aid to Filipinos from all over the Philippines.
“The budget will significantly allow for the safe, efficient, and successful implementation of the OVP programs, projects, and activities designed to provide immediate relief and long-term solutions to challenges such as poverty, livelihood, basic services, education, and other social inequalities facing many Filipinos in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao,” she added.
The Senate Committee on Finance approved the budget after Senators Bong Revilla and Jinggoy Estrada moved to end the session, citing the traditional courtesy accorded to the vice president during budget hearings.
In Monday’s hearing, opposition Senators Risa Hontiveros and Koko Pimentel grilled Duterte on the need and use of the controversial P500-million confidential funds.
The OVP’s proposed budget for 2024 will be the highest in the office’s history as both former vice presidents Leni Robredo and Jejomar Binay had access to less than P1 billion.
The OVP, by design, is a small office with few mandates.
Aside from the OVP’s P2.3-billion budget, Duterte, as secretary of the Department of Education (DepEd), will also have access to the proposed P758.59-billion 2024 budget.