Vice President Sara Duterte’s allies in the Senate have accepted the inevitability they won’t be able to press for a higher budget for the Office of the Vice President (OVP) for 2025 given the current circumstances.
Sen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa said the OVP’s budget for next year will likely remain at P733-million even after the bicameral conference committee meeting on the 2025 General Appropriations Bill (GAB).
The Senate, on Tuesday night (November 26), approved the 2025 GAB on third and final reading, deciding to retain the P733-million budget of the OVP, as approved by the House of Representatives, and deleting the allocation for the controversial Ayuda sa Kapos ang Kita (AKAP) program.
Sen. Grace Poe, chairperson of the Senate Finance Committee and sponsor of the 2025 budget bill, said the budgets of the OVP and AKAP “will be determined during the bicam.”
Poe had said the Senate’s decision on the OVP’s budget was due to her inability to submit the necessary documents asked by the finance panel to justify their original proposal of P2.03-billion.
“Kung hindi nga nakalusot dito sa atin, sa (Senate) caucus, dun pa kaya sa bicam pa (If it failed to pass here in the Senate during our caucus, we doubt it will even pass in the bicam),” Dela Rosa told reporters in an interview on Wednesday, November 27.
“So, ayun. Ok na lang yun (P733 million),” said the senator, a known ally of the former Duterte administration.
“We support the leadership. If that is the decision of the leadership of the Senate, then we support it. We respect the leadership of the Senate. Kami, Sen. Bong Go, ako, Sen. Joel Villanueva, Sen. Imee Marcos…we try to make adjustments…” Dela Rosa added.
“We don’t need justifications, we need mercy. We need mercy,” the lawmaker insisted.
Still, Sen. Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito said he is certain the OVP’s appropriation for next year will still have budget for social services.
“We made sure that even the most basic operations of the office will not be affected,” said Ejercito, vice chairman of the Senate finance panel.
Nevertheless, Ejercito said he believes Sen. Poe was also able to justify the granting of a P733-million budget for the OVP.
“She was able to present the particulars or items. And even with a slashed budget, the (OVP) budget for social services is still there,” he said.