Vice President Sara Duterte (Noel Pabalate/ MANILA BULLETIN)

The House-approved P6.352-trillion 2025 General Appropriations Bill (GAB) will still provide the Office of the Vice President (OVP) under Vice President Sara Duterte with an ample budget. 

Thus, said Senior Deputy Speaker and Pampanga 3rd district Rep. Aurelio “Dong” Gonzales, Jr. amid the criticisms over the House plenary decision to significantly reduce Vice President Duterte's budget for next year from P2.037 billion to P733 million. 

“The [OVP] led by VP Duterte will not be crippled despite the decision of the House to reduce her 2025 funding. The Vice President will have sufficient funds to discharge her constitutional duties,” Gonzales said. 

Gonzales said that to his credit, Speaker Martin Romualdez prevailed upon members of the minority, who were angered by the Vice President’s absence in plenary and committee deliberations on her budget, not to further cut it. 

On apples-to-apples comparison, Gonzales that in 2023, or Vice President Duterte’s first full year in office, she had P2.344 billion, including a P500-million Confidential and Intelligence Fund (CIF) and a P920-million “financial assistance” allocation. 

Meanwhile, her immediate predecessor Robredo had P428.6 million, without a CIF and a financial aid fund, during her first full year in office in 2017. 

Last year, on her second full year, Vice President Duterte had P1.874 billion, while Robredo had P543.9 million in 2018, he said. 

Next year, during the incumbent Vice President’s third year in office, she will have P733 million, while Robredo had P663.4 million in 2019, he added. 

Robredo had P699.9 million in 2020, P900 million in 2021, which was her biggest budget, and P702 million in 2022, which she split with her successor, Vice President Duterte. 

The OVP had P500 million in 2016, which was shared by Robredo and his predecessor, Jejomar Binay. 

“Clearly, VP Sara enjoyed much bigger budgets that what VP Leni had,” Gonzales stressed. 

The Senate will have its turn to deliberate on the 2025 GAB once sessions in Congress resume on Nov. 4. 

Stick to VP's role 

He points that the House decision to reduce the OVP budget is consistent with the vision of Senate Minority Leader Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III on the principal job and duty of the Vice President. 

In a radio interview last Sept. 1, Pimentel said Duterte should focus on her main duty as the country’s second highest elected official and successor to the presidency, and should not implement programs that are not included in her constitutional mandate. 

“Ang Vice President puro aral, puro briefing para handa siya maging Presidente anytime. ‘Yun lang ang budget-an namin. Hindi na niya role na magbigay ng mga school bags. Hindi na niya role na magpatakbo ng mga bus. Sayang oras niya eh,” Pimentel said. 

(The Vice President should focused on studying and briefings so that she can be ready to be President anytime. That's what we will provide budget to. It's not her role to dole out school bags. It's not her role to run buses. It's a waste of her time.) 

Last Sept. 25, before adjourning for its recess, the House of Representatives approved the recommendation of its Committee on Appropriations to cut the OVP 2025 funding by 63 percent. 

The reduction was prompted by audit findings that OVP’s Financial Assistance (FA) schemes such as the distribution of burial, educational, medical, and transportation funds were redundant and duplicate similar programs efficiently being implemented by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and Department of Health (DOH). 

The House realigned the entire P943-million FA fund of the OVP to the DSWD and DOH. 

According to Marikina City 2nd district Rep. Stella Quimbo, senior vice chairperson of the Committee on Appropriations, the OVP and its beneficiaries could still access the FA allocation by sending their requests to the two departments. 

Quimbo said no money was taken from OVP’s allocation for salaries. “We wanted to preserve jobs,” she said.