The Office of the Vice President is getting the smallest share of the budget pie in the bureaucracy for 2021 despite receiving the highest audit rating from the Commission on Audit.
Vice President Leni Robredo on Monday showed up to the House of Representatives and presented the Office of the Vice President’s (OVP) proposed P679-million budget for next year, lower than its current P708-million appropriation after it was slashed by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).
Despite the small amount given to the office, Robredo reiterated that as always, they will make do with the resources given to them.
“We will make do with what is given to us,” Robredo told the House appropriations committee. Her office originally requested P724 million in funding for 2021 which was rejected by the DBM.
Lawmakers in the lower chamber however called for an increase in the OVP’s budget, ranging from 10 percent to as much as double or triple the OVP’s allocation.
Camarines Sur Rep. Gabriel Bordado Jr. said it was a shame that the OVP was given the “lowest budget allocation in the entire Philippine bureaucracy.”
“It has been engaging in front-line activities and people empowerment, but still, its budget is the smallest in the entire bureaucracy,” he said.
Robredo personally appealed to lawmakers to at least meet their proposed budget of P724 million after the DBM recommended only P679 million for the next fiscal year.
“Basically, your honors, from our shuttle services, our dormitories, our assistance to communities, all the other things that we have been doing, that is made possible because of collaboration with mostly private partners. So we are confident, your honors, that with our proposed budget next year, we can further expand the work with our partners to contribute to our shared goal of defeating the virus and improving the lives of our people,” she said.
Meanwhile, Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez urged his fellow lawmakers to increase the OVP budget by P113 million.
“Giving this P113 million will go a long way in providing funds to OVP to implement its regular programs and its response to COVID-19 pandemic,” he said.
But Baguio City Rep. Mark Go went a step further, saying the budget should be doubled, or at least raised to P1 billion. ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro said she would support moves to “double or triple” the OVP budget.
