Senate to approve budget on merits, proposals of agencies, not on who is the incumbent head - Poe

With much fuss around the budget of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) in the House of Representatives, Senator Grace Poe said the Upper Chamber would approve or modify the budget based on the merits of the proposals of each office — not on who sits as its head.

"Every department will undergo an intense scrutiny to make sure that its proposed budget is allocated for the right purpose and spent accordingly," Poe said, who chairs the Senate Committee on Finance.

In a recent development, the House Committee on Appropriations is recommending a P1.293-billion reduction to the proposed P2.037-billion budget next year of the OVP under Vice President Sara Duterte. 

This was bared to reporters on Thursday morning, Sept. 12 by appropriations panel senior vice chairperson Marikina City 2nd district Rep. Stella Quimbo. 

The P1.293 billion represents a whopping 63 percent of the OVP budget as spelled out in the 2025 National Expenditure Program (NEP), the precursor of the national budget.  

Quimbo floated this proposal two days after Vice President Duterte wrote House Speaker Martin Romualdez to basically tell the chamber to do whatever it wants to the OVP's 2025 budget.  

At the end of the day, Poe said that they want a budget that will allow agencies to perform their mandate of delivering timely, efficient and relevant service that will be felt by the people.

Recently, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III said that the OVP should be given a sufficient budget to carry out its constitutional roles.

This is in response to Duterte's assurance that she and her office are prepared to work even without government funding.

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.