THE small committee tasked by the House of Representatives to introduce individual and institutional amendments to the 2025 General Appropriations Bill (GAB) has finalized its decision to reduce the budget of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) by P1.3 billion following Vice President Sara Duterte’s absence in the plenary deliberations on Malacañang’s proposed P6.352 trillion national budget.
Rep. Zaldy Co (PL, Ako Bicol), chair of the House Committee on Appropriations and who heads the small panel, said the House has reallocated the funds to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the Department of Health (DOH).
Because of this, P646.5 million will now be added to the DSWD’s Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations (AICS) program, while another P646.5 million will be used to support the DOH’s Medical Assistance for Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients (MAIFIP) program.
The House, upon the recommendation of the appropriations panel, earlier agreed to slash the OVP’s 2025 budget from P2.037 billion to P733.198 million, citing as one of the reasons the overlapping functions between the OVP and other agencies like the DSWD and DOH, which contributed to redundant expenses.
The House last September 25 approved on third and final reading the Palace’s proposed national budget for 2025. The measure will be sent to the Senate after the amendments introduced by the small committee are incorporated.
Duterte stopped attending the budget hearings and the subsequent plenary deliberations on her office’s budget request for next year after she refused to answer questions hounding her office’s use of P73 million in confidential funds which was part of the OVP’s 2022 budget.
The P73 million was disallowed by the Commission on Audit (COA) out of the P125 million confidential funds spent by the OVP in 2022.
Lawmakers have said that the COA disallowance is proof of the OVP’s alleged “broader pattern of seeming misuse or mismanagement of government funds.”
In a September 11 letter to Adiong, the Vice President reiterated her stand that she will no longer defend her office’s proposed budget for 2025, stressing that lawmakers can do whatever they want with it.
Co said the realignment will result in “significant” savings, particularly from the OVP’s rental expenditures, noting that in 2023, the OVP spent P53 million on leasing 10 satellite offices and two extension offices nationwide.
The lawmaker stressed that this was a steep increase from the P4.1 million annually spent on office rentals during the term of former Vice President Leni Robredo.
“These satellite offices are performing functions that should fall under existing government agencies, leading to unnecessary duplication and higher costs,” Co said.
Co said some of these offices are only manned by only a few individuals and “are often used for political rather than social service purposes.”
“By eliminating redundant roles, government can save as much as P1.3 billion, which constitutes a significant portion of the OVP’s proposed P2.037 billion budget for 2025. The House believes this amount could be more effectively allocated to existing agencies, enabling them to extend their services to the public more efficiently,” he said.
While the OVP has reported serving over 1.5 million beneficiaries through its medical, burial, and relief programs as of August 31, 2024, Co said such services “could be more efficiently managed by agencies with dedicated resources and expertise.”
“Consolidating these responsibilities under the appropriate departments would not only eliminate costs associated with maintaining satellite offices but also streamline service delivery, reducing administrative overlap and minimizing confusion among beneficiaries,” he said.
Co also said the COA has recommended a thorough review of the OVP’s functions and expenditures to assess the necessity of maintaining these satellite offices.
“As the government faces increasing pressure to adopt more fiscally responsible practices, reducing the OVP’s redundant spending could be a key step toward ensuring more efficient governance,” he said.
