Vice President Sara Duterte (Ellson Quismorio/ MANILA BULLETIN)
A vindication.
That's how ranking congressmen described the Senate's decision to adopt the House of Representatives' move of slashing the Office of the Vice President (OVP) proposed budget for 2025 from P2.03 billion to just P733 million.
Deputy Majority Leader Tingog Party-list Rep. Jude Acidre; Assistant Majority Leaders Lanao del Sur 1st district Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong, Ako Bicol Party-list Rep. Jill Bongalon; and Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Lordan Suan all feel vindicated by the response of the Senate finance subcommittee Wednesday, Nov. 6.
Senator Grace Poe, who chaired the subcommittee that reviewed the OVP budget under the P6.352-trillion 2025 General Appropriations Bill (GAB) or national budget, cited the lack of supporting documents from the office headed by Vice President Sara Duterte as a major reason for the Senate’s adoption.
'I feel for her'
Adiong, who sponsored the OVP budget in the House version of the GAB, empathized with Poe’s struggles to obtain the required budgetary documentation from the OVP.
“As a sponsor, alam ko ‘yung na-experience po ng Senate ngayon (I know what the Senate experienced) when they were asking for the documents,” Adiong told a press conference on Wednesday, Nov. 6
“It would be really difficult, and I feel for her because it really is difficult for a sponsor to really defend the proposed budget kung walang coordination ang ahensya na dinindepensa mo (if there is no coordination from the agency that you are defending),” he added.
Acidre said of the Senate’s move: “It also vindicates the stance taken by the Hon. Zia being the sponsor of the budget of the [OVP] kasi alam naman natin na medyo binabatikos siya (because we know that he was somewhat assailed)."
He continued, “Pero nakita natin dito, pati sa Senado ay patuloy pa rin na iniiwasan ng Tanggapan ng Pangalawang Pangulo ang pag-defend ng kanilang budget sa tama at saktong pamamaraan."
(But we saw here that even at the Senate, the OVP has been evasive in defending their budget in the correct and proper manner.)
Acidre criticized what he described as a troubling pattern in which the OVP seemed to consider itself “above the process” in budget matters.
“This is not the OVP’s money — it’s the people’s money,” he stressed.
Not about politics
Bongalon, a vice chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations like Adiong, emphasized that the decision to reduce the OVP budget was rooted in public interest, not politics.
“The adoption of the Senate on the budget of the [OVP] is just really a confirmation that what we did in the House is just a result of a work that is fair and there’s nothing about politics here,” he said.
Bongalon undescored that the budget difference of P1.3 billion was not merely cut but realigned to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and Department of Health (DOH) in a bid to strengthen social programs that directly impact the lives of Filipinos, particularly those most in need.
For his part, Suan cited the OVP’s absence in key budget hearings as further justification for their scrutiny of its 2025 outlay.
“I saw that he was really sincere in wanting to defend the budget of the Vice President, and with what happened in the Senate—in reaffirming the proposal or the version of the House—I think that we can’t blame the Senate and we can’t blame Cong. Zia,” Suan said.
He said that both chambers had done everything possible to fairly evaluate the OVP’s budget, but that it was difficult “to work with something if there is nothing to work with".