Sara 'ready' for zero budget, but House sponsor denies plans to defund OVP

MANILA, Philippines — The lawmaker sponsoring the Office of the Vice President’s (OVP) proposed 2025 budget said on Wednesday, September 11, that the House appropriations committee does not plan on defunding the agency’s budget.

“We are not going to just ignore the budget that is required of the Office of the Vice President to have in order for the office itself and institution itself to operate,” Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong (Lanao del Sur, 1st District) said at a press conference. 

Adiong explained that the OVP also has employees and assets to fund to maintain its operations. 

“Handa kami, handa ako, sa Office of the Vice President na magtrabaho kahit walang budget. Maliit lang 'yung opisina namin. Maliit lang 'yung operations namin kaya kayang-kaya namin na magtrahabo kahit walang budget (We cannot disregard the fact that there are employees in every agency. Funds are also needed for the maintenance of their assets and office equipment),” he said in a mix of English and Filipino.

This came after Vice President Sara Duterte said in a self-recorded interview that she has heard talks in the House to reduce her office’s budget to P1 or even P0. The OVP, she said, is ready to work with this amount because its operations are only minor. 

“We are ready, I am ready, at the Office of the Vice President to work even without a budget. Our office is small. Our operations are small, so we are more than capable of working even without a budget,” Duterte said in Filipino.

Flagged by COA. The controversy stems from a Commission on Audit (COA) report at a congressional hearing on August 27 baring P73 million in inappropriate spending of the OVP's P125-million confidential and intelligence funds for 2022.

Rep. Jude Acidre (Tingog) stressed it is the vice president’s “responsibility and accountability” to explain the discrepancies the Commission on Audit (COA) found in the utilization and liquidation of the OVP’s funds.  

“It is COA that is saying there is an error in the expenditure and is demanding a refund. Mind you, that’s not the starting point. That is already almost the endpoint of the process, as it involves a notice of disallowance. There are already repeated documents going