Senate Minority Leader Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III said on Wednesday, Sept. 11, that the Office of the Vice President (OVP) should be given a sufficient budget to carry out its constitutional roles.
"Give the OVP sufficient budget to carry out the VP’s constitutional role or responsibility to be ready to be the President at any given second," he said in a message to reporters.
This is in response to Vice President Sara Duterte's assurance that she and her office are prepared to work even without government funding.
"Hence, the OVP should have budget for: staff, office, utilities, library, briefings, meetings (representation), attendance in conferences, travel both domestic and international," Pimentel said.
Duterte admitted that she heard reports about the possible defunding of the OVP following her word war with some lawmakers.
She also did not attend the scheduled Sept. 10 budget deliberations for the OVP before the House Committee on Appropriations.
The possibility of defunding the OVP came after she was a no-show on Tuesday’s second hearing for her office's proposed P2.037-billion budget for 2025.
A letter addressed to House Speaker Martin Romualdez, forwarded to House Committee on Appropriations Chairman Ako-Bicol Partylist Rep. Elizaldy Co and signed by Duterte herself, the official said she was leaving it to the discretion of the committee to approve her budget or not.
She added that the OVP already submitted all necessary documents regarding its proposal, and that she herself faced the House panel in her opening remarks during the first budget hearing last Aug. 27.