Former vice presidential and lawmaker Barry Gutierrez reminded that a government office’s competency depends on the leader at the helm, and not the budget.
(From left) Vice President Sara Duterte and former vice president Leni Robredo (OVP photos)
In a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday, Jan. 15, Gutierrez threw criticisms anew at Vice President Sara Duterte, whose office will receive only P733 million for 2025, a far-cry from its proposal of more than P2 billion for this year.
“Ang P730M na budget ni VP Sara ay mas malaki pa rin sa budget ni VP Leni sa 5 out of 6 years ng kanyang panunungkulan (The P730-M budget of VP Sara is still higher than the budget of VP Leni five out of six years in her term),” he wrote.
“Again, it's the leader not the budget,” he said.
On Wednesday, the OVP announced that it will stop its medical and burial assistance program because this line item was removed from the 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA).
Under Duterte, the OVP received P2.3 billion in 2023 and P1.87 billion in 2024.
The highest budget that the Office of the Vice President (OVP) got under Robredo’s term was P900 million in 2021. In 2022, in her last year in office, the OVP was allocated some P712 million.
The combined total of funds approved for Robredo from 2017 to 2022 amounted to some P3.9 billion, while Duterte received almost P4.2 billion in just two years in office.
But in September 2020, Robredo reiterated that the OVP, under her leadership, looks for private partners to implement their programs.
“Whatever is given to us, we will make do with that. Of course, we would be able to help more people if we are given more, but whatever is given to us, we work within that budget. We try to pour all our energies to look for private partners,” she said.
“The small budget has never been a hindrance to us,” the former official added.