Defanging the Vice President

The House of Representatives committee on appropriations decided last Thursday to cut the proposed 2025 Office of the Vice President (OVP) budget of P2.037 billion to only P733.198 millionThe cut, which is about P1.29 billion, was announced by Marikina Rep. Stella Quimbo through a press conference. In my many years working in Congress, if memory serves me right, this is only the second straight time a committee decision is announced through a presser, unlike previous decisions which are revealed via committee reports. By this sheer action alone, the House of Representatives is clearly engaged in politicking, as mentioned by Vice President Inday Sara Duterte during her presentation of the OVP budget in the Lower House.

Here is the breakdown: of the P1,293,159,000 budget cut, P200 million was for supplies; P92.408 million for personnel services for consultants; P947.445 million for financial assistance; P48.306 million for rent or lease expenses and P5 million for utility expenses.

As a result, Vice President Sara’s promise to make her office accessible to our countrymen would be affected. At present, the OVP has 10 satellite offices and two extension offices. With the budget cut on lease expenses, this is no longer possible.

Quimbo justified this by saying that “our previous vice presidents only maintained a single office.”

But VP Sara is different.

The Vice President is doing her mandate serving the people through the satellite offices and extension offices while agencies of the government are being utilized for politicking purposes.

The current Vice President is a young, hands-on working Vice President who would crisscross the archipelago to touch base with our people and make the presence of the government felt on the ground.

VP Sara is a pro-active solutions provider. In fact, even before Quimbo’s presser, VP, in a video message, said that the OVP can certainly work even without a budget and that she will continue to do what needs to be done for the people.

Just as I thought, the House panel would target the Vice President’s social service programs, claiming that these programs duplicate the programs of other agencies of the government.

House committee on