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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider COA says OVP had lesser security personnel in 2024 than in previous years

COA says OVP had lesser security personnel in 2024 than in previous years

Published Dec 2, 2025 05:31 pm
The Office of the Vice President (OVP) had 335 non-plantilla security personnel in 2024, fewer than in 2022 or 2023, the Commission on Audit (COA) said.
In the summary of its annual audit report, the COA said that the OVP had a total of 165 plantilla positions and 616 non-plantilla positions in 2024.
Based on the positions, the Vice Presidential Security and Protection Group (VPSPG) took up the majority with a total of 335, it said.
It added that the OVP had 240 Contract of Service Personnel, 34 Contractual and Casual, four Consultants, and three Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) protocol officers.
For the plantilla positions, the OVP had 99 co-terminus employees, 63 permanent employees, two Presidential appointees, and one elected employee.
The COA said the personnel at VPSPG decreased in 2024 since it had 443 VPSPG personnel in 2023 and 433 security personnel in 2022.
Thus, the COA said the reduced number of security personnel was probably the reason why Vice President Duterte’s travelling expenses, both local and foreign, went down in 2024. It added that those who claimed travelling expenses were the Vice President herself, her immediate staff, and the members of the VPSPG.
In 2024, the OVP reported a total of P34,425,801.58 travelling expenses, which is significantly lower than the P42,771,251.92 reported in 2023, the COA said. It also said that P28,677,715.67 went to local travelling expenses while P5,748,085.91 went to foreign travel expenses.
At the same time, the COA said that the OVP received donations in the form of "various unserviceable motor vehicles," which went to the VPSPG and government educational institutions.
It said the value of the vehicles in 2024 was P5,108,106.23. A total of P5,019,516.23 went to the VPSPG, while P44,295 went to Kanggahan Elementary School and P44,295 went to Liberty Elementary School.
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