Vice President Sara Duterte (Santi San Juan/MANILA BULLETIN)

Vice President Sara Duterte has no one to blame but herself over the potential loss of jobs of around 200 employees of the Office of the Vice President (OVP), according to House Assistant Majority Leader Jay Khonghun.

In a press conference on Monday, Nov. 18, Khonghun said the Vice President’s refusal to defend her office’s proposed P2-billion budget in the House of Representatives was to blame for the potential unemployment of her people.

“Yung 200 plus na sinasabi ni Vice President na mawawalan ng trabaho, para ipaglaban, i-justify ‘yung kanyang budget. The problem is hindi niya jinustify yung budget niya. So it’s her responsibility,” he said.

(To fight for the over 200 employees that the Vice President says will lose their jobs, she should have justified her budget. The problem is that she cannot justify her budget. So it's her responsibility.)

Khonghun is referring to Duterte’s earlier statement that many OVP workers, particularly those in the satellite offices, stand to lose their jobs.

The country’s second top official pointed to the P1.3-billion cut from the OVP’s proposed budget for 2025 as the reason behind such a possibility.

Earlier, the Senate approved the P733-million outlay for the OVP. This was adopted from the proposed 2025 national budget approved by the House of Representatives.

Khonghun, representative of Zambales’ first district, noted that Congress had no choice but to cut the OVP’s budget given her failure to defend it despite repeated invitations.

“Kung jinustify niya ang budget niya at inayos niya ang paggamit ng pondo ng pamahalaan, walang mawawalan ng trabaho at maayos ang trabaho ng Office of the Vice President,” he stressed.

(If she justified her budget and properly utilized government funds instead, no one will lose their jobs and the Office of the Vice President will work without a hitch.)

Weak reason?

La Union 1st district Rep. Paolo Ortega, for his part, says the talks of unemployment is an insufficient justification for restoring the funds of Duterte’s office.

“Hindi naman enough reason ‘yung unemployment for me (Unemployment is not enough reason for me),” said Ortega.

“Kaya nagkaroon ng ganyan na problema dahil yung fulfillment ng trabaho, unang-una, utilization rate, burn rate, hindi nagamit maigi ang mga programa na yan,” he explained.

(Such a problem comes because of the fulfillment of the work, first of all, utilization rate, burn rate, those programs were not properly used.)

Ortega, a deputy majority leader, noted that the underutilization of the OVP’s funds also reflected on the productivity of the employees concerned.

“Common sense would dictate na ibig sabihin kung hindi ginamit ‘yung pondo na ‘yan, pati ‘yung mga empleyado na ‘yan, underutilized sila, hindi nila nagawa-maigi ang trabaho nila,” he added.

(Common sense would dictate that if that fund was not used, those employees were also underutilized, they were not able to perform their jobs well.)

He, however, pointed out that the House’s version of the proposed national budget included certain provisions for affected employees.

Previously, House Committee on Appropriations Senior Vice Chairman Stella Quimbo clarified that there will be no potential loss of jobs within the OVP as the employment requirements for the reallocated funds will remain unchanged.

To recall, the OVP’s funds for social services were realigned to the Departments of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and Health (DOH).