House leaders claimed “vindication” after the Senate adopted the House of Representatives decision to cut the 2025 budget for the Office of the Vice President (OVP) by P1.3 billion, reducing it from the requested P2.03 billion to P733 million
Senator Grace Poe, who chairs the Senate finance subcommittee reviewing the OVP budget, cited the lack of supporting documents from the office headed by Vice President Sara Duterte as a major reason for the Senate’s move.
This alignment between the two chambers affirms the House’s rigorous approach to budget scrutiny and vindicates its decision to reallocate funds to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the Department of Health (DOH).
The bipartisan support for this budget reduction underscores frustration in both chambers over what lawmakers describe as a lack of transparency and cooperation from Vice President Duterte and her office.
House Assistant Majority Leader and Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong, who sponsored the OVP budget in the House, empathized with Poe’s struggles to obtain required budgetary documentation from the OVP.
“As a sponsor, I know how the Senate feels now when they were asking for the documents,” Adiong said
“It would be really difficult, and I feel for her because it really is difficult for a sponsor to really defend the proposed budget if there is no coordination among agencies of government you defend,” he added.
House Deputy Majority Leader and Tingog Party-list Rep. Jude Acidre called the Senate’s move a vindication of the lower chamber’s decision.
Acidre continued, “But we have seen here, even in the Senate, that the Office of the Vice President continues to avoid defending their budget in the right and proper way.”
Acidre criticized what he described as a troubling pattern in which the OVP seemed to consider itself “above the process” in budget matters.
“This is not the OVP’s money — it’s the people’s money,” he stressed.
For House lawmakers, the Senate’s alignment reflects a shared focus on fiscal responsibility.
Assistant Majority Leader and Ako Bicol Rep. Jil Bongalon, vice chair of the House Committee on Appropriations, emphasized that the decision to reduce the OVP budget was rooted in public interest, not politics.
He explained that the reduced amount was not merely cut but “realigned” to the DSWD and DOH to strengthen social programs that directly impact the lives of Filipinos, particularly those most in need.
Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Lordan Suan cited the OVP’s absence at key budget hearings as further justification for their scrutiny, recalling Adiong’s visible frustration during the deliberations.
He said that both chambers had done everything possible to fairly evaluate the OVP’s budget, but that it was difficult “to work with something if there is nothing to work with.”
The House initially moved to cut the OVP budget, citing overlapping services with agencies such as the DSWD and DOH.
It also noted OVP’s high rental expenses for satellite offices.
